August 1, 2011 :: The Editors :: No Comment Yet
The Republican House leadership today again reiterated the false claim that Democratic leaders and the president have been pushing for “job-killing tax increases”. It is obviously a deliberate rhetorical exaggeration, designed to make a case for tax cuts, in a mode of campaigning and fundraising. But it is also a lie: not one politician in either party has ever called for “job-killing tax increases”.
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July 31, 2011 :: The Editors :: No Comment Yet
The Tea Party movement was a grassroots rebellion of discontented, disenfranchised, fiscally conservative working people. It was wage earners and small-town conservatives who wanted reason and rationality in government. It ballooned into a pro-Republican juggernaut, financed by billionaire partisans, and managed to maneuver itself into a position of seemingly dictatorial control over the Republican majority in the House of Representatives.
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July 30, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
List of Legislative Riders on H.R.2584, The Interior & Environment Approps bill for FY12 39 provisions in the bill specifically eliminate environmental protections in service of big polluters and GOP campaign donors *In order as they appear in the bill, with section numbers cited. Blocks Endangered Species Act Designations [Language on page 8]: Prohibits funding for [...]
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July 29, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
Around 10:52 am, the news emerged from Capitol Hill that Republicans were planning to change the controversial Boehner spending-cut bill, and call a floor vote some time today. There was speculation that House leaders were planning to cut funding for Pell Grants—needed financial aid for college students—in order to win the support of Tea Party [...]
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July 28, 2011 :: J.E. Robertson :: No Comment Yet
Speaker of the House John Boehner appears to have made an astonishing miscalculation in his legislative strategy, designing proposed legislation to be viable only in a 100% party-line vote, even though as many as 120 of his own members have vowed not to support raising the debt ceiling. Speaker Boehner would need to round up [...]
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July 28, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
Speaker of the House John Boehner has an admittedly difficult task, trying to corral rogue Republicans who have vowed to oppose raising the debt ceiling, even with the threat their actions could plunge the nation into an economic depression. But today, his speakership inched closer to calamity, as his push to pass a limited package [...]
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July 27, 2011 :: The Editors :: No Comment Yet
Bruce Bartlett, former deputy budget director for Pres. George H.W. Bush and aide to Pres. Reagan, says the Bush tax cuts have added at least $3 trillion to the debt, and other Bush policies led to an increase of $4 trillion in the debt. When Bush took office, budget projections showed a $6 trillion surplus, [...]
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July 27, 2011 :: The Editors :: No Comment Yet
Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) today addressed the Senate, calling for reasoned cooperation between the two parties and the two chambers, to craft a serious budget deal that can avoid a credit downgrade. He admonished hardline Republicans in the House to recognize that the Constitution they have sworn allegiance to institutes checks and balances, that no [...]
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July 27, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
Wisconsin’s governor Scott Walker has signed into a law a controversial requirement that voters present photo ID in order to exercise their right to vote. Now, he has announced plans to close as many as 16 motor vehicle offices, every one of them in districts that favor Democrats. What’s more, Walker’s plan includes expanding hours [...]
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March 17, 2011 :: J.E. Robertson :: 2 Comments
National Public Radio is a resource that belongs to the American people. It is not government controlled, has no editorial bias in terms of ideology or party, and is the nation’s most extensive network of committed professional journalists delivering reliable information to American citizens, via the radio. Federal funding is a commitment to enabling the American people to benefit from the founding principle that a free and independent press makes us freer and more resilient to the challenges a democracy faces.
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March 12, 2011 :: The Editors :: 3 Comments
Republican governors have unabashedly joined in their party’s national campaign to undermine the economic recovery and marginalize their people in a concerted effort to harm Pres. Obama and derail his re-election bid. In Florida, the new Tea Partyist governor has refused to accept any federal funding for a high-speed rail project that would have stimulated economic growth and job creation in his state, despite Florida being granted $2.4 billion out of the $2.6 billion needed, and the previous governor having explicitly requested the funds.
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March 9, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
Republicans in the Wisconsin state Senate have voted to force through a bill banning collective bargaining for public employees in the state. The move is being described as a new parliamentary move, without precedent and possibly without any legal foundation. There are now accusations of clear ethics violations in the process used to force the measure through, and threats of legal action.
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March 9, 2011 :: staff :: One Comment
The governor of Michigan is trying to force through the legislature a bill that would establish emergency rule, LITERALLY. Gov. Snyder is seeking emergency powers that would enable him to 1) unilaterally declare a “financial emergency”, 2) disincorporate entire municipal governments, 3) dismiss elected officials with no replacement election to follow, 4) seize control of local civil services, 5) hand taxpayer money, services and POWERS to private, for-profit firms.
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February 28, 2011 :: The Editors :: No Comment Yet
Wisconsin’s Republican governor, whose attack on the rights of public servants has sparked the most persistent and widespread public protests seen in the state’s history. After two weeks of protests, the governor’s abject refusal to negotiate in any way with opponents to his bid to strip public workers of their rights has brought over 100,000 peaceful demonstrators to the state capitol complex this weekend. Gov. Walker is now seeking to bar any further protest in a desperate bid to impose his will on the people.
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February 26, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
Last week, a man pretending to be oil billionaire David Koch, one of the major Republican donors thought to be behind the concerted operation by Republican governors to strip public employees of collective bargaining rights, spoke with Gov. Scott Walke by phone. During the conversation, Gov. Walker revealed much about his own thinking in relation to using the claim of a “budget crisis” to impose massive cuts on public servants’ compensation and to strip them of basic workplace fairness rights.
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February 26, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
On Friday, Republicans in the Wisconsin state Assembly used unusual rules to push through legislation stripping public servants of collective bargaining rights, at 1:00 am. Opponents and Democrats chanted “Shame! Shame! Shame!” at the Republicans as they filed unceremoniously out of the chamber. The vote has been assailed by critics as a political assault on groups and individuals who don’t support the Republican party. Even FOX News has reported that the bill is “pure politics” and that the so-called “budget crisis” is a false claim being used by Republicans to attack their opponents.
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February 26, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
The Tea Party movement is famous for its persistent expression of rage. It has been elevated by partisans who want to channel that rage to harm their opponents, and it has been misinterpreted by progressive politicians as a result of ignorance and poor anger management. Those superficial qualities are symptoms; the movement is an alarm bell that neither party seems equipped to respond to.
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February 21, 2011 :: The Editors :: 4 Comments
The protest rally opposing Gov. Walker’s draconian plan to eliminate collective bargaining rights is now entering its second week. 14 Democratic lawmakers remain outside the state, in boycott of the plan to impose Walker’s radical agenda on the people of Wisconsin. And today the news comes the last union that had not abandoned Walker, the state police union, has now done so.
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February 20, 2011 :: Denver Lessing :: 4 Comments
The last week has seen mounting protests in Madison, Wisconsin, with crowds occupying the state capitol grounds swelling from 10,000 to 25,000 to 30,000, 40,000 and now on Saturday, 60,000. Schools have been closed, and university faculty and students are striking in order to participate in the protests. The demonstrators oppose Gov. Walker’s plan to strip public employees of all collective bargaining rights.
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February 19, 2011 :: staff :: 3 Comments
The advocacy group Common Cause has found evidence that Clarence Thomas’ office appears to have lied about his participation in a retreat hosted by the Koch brothers, three years ago, and that Thomas appears to be concealing a gift from the oil billionaires, due to the conflict of interest it suggests. It now appears Thomas reported his appearance at the event, at which his office said he “made a brief stop-by”, as an all-expenses-paid four-day trip to Palm Springs.
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February 18, 2011 :: The Editors :: 4 Comments
Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) is struggling to get control of the House of Representatives, now filled with a freshman class of rogue Republican lawmakers who are refusing to follow his leadership and splitting the party’s majority on one after another vote. Yesterday, conservatives in the Republican House caucus joined progressive Democrats in handing Boehner a loss and Pres. Obama a victory, in voting to cut funding for an unnecessary duplicate engine for the F-35 fighter jet.
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January 9, 2011 :: staff :: One Comment
Former Republican Congressman Bob Inglis, of South Carolina, said the climate of hostile and vitriolic rhetoric that has overtaken much of the right is partly to blame for the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Inglis urged his fellow Republicans to honor the principled public service of Giffords, saying “I hope what even the staunchest Republican could say is, ‘We’re all Democrats today for Gabby,’ and let’s just come together as a nation and figure out a way to get out of these problems”.
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January 7, 2011 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
The planned vote to repeal last year’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act [pdf], if successful, would increase the federal budget deficit by $230 billion over the next ten years, would leave 32 million Americans with no access to affordable healthcare insurance, would strip small businesses of tax credits they get to help cover employee health costs, and would increase the cost per insuree across the nation. The Congressional Budget Office has released a study showing the negative impact repeal would have on the federal budget, the welfare of average Americans and the economy more broadly.
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January 5, 2011 :: staff :: Comments Off
On Tuesday, Pres. Obama signed a raft of new legislation passed during the lame duck session of the 111th Congress. The huge number of signings capped a complicated two-year period of historic achievements and unprecedented Senate obstruction. Here’s a comprehensive list of the new laws Pres. Obama signed on the last day before the Republicans are sworn in as the new majority in the House of Representatives, from the White House…
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January 4, 2011 :: Denver Lessing :: Comments Off
Capping a season of lavish fundraising events where Republican members of Congress raised huge sums from lobbyists, corporate donors and special interests, one Republican freshman is holding a major bash, at $2,500 per person, complete with live performance by Leigh Ann Rimes, $50,000 all-inclusive package deals and luxury suites at the W hotel. Despite Tea Party opposition to corrupt corporate-interest politics, Rep. Jeff Denham is openly positioning himself to be the go-to rainmaker for fellow Republicans.
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January 3, 2011 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
The 112th Congress will be officially sworn in on Wednesday, and its work will be fraught with challenges and controversies from the very first. On Wednesday, for instance, the House of Representatives will vote on a rules change that will allow Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan to dictate spending priorities and caps to the entire House and Senate, by disallowing any revision of his rewrite guidelines, should the two chambers fail to reach agreement on a budget resolution. Issues like raising the debt ceiling, implementing START, mortgage and foreclosure reform and expanding medical coverage, will all pit liberal against conservative in a split Congress.
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December 31, 2010 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
The Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. FEC is guaranteed to be controversial long after the shock of its meaning fades from public consciousness. The ruling effectively gave multinational corporations free rein to spend unlimited sums of money with the specific intent of distorting the public discourse and swaying the democratic process in their favor. Some say it amounts to the death of real democracy in the United States.
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November 14, 2010 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
The United States government is facing historic budget deficits. A wave of new Republicans are going to Washington, DC, with the idea in mind they will slash “spending”, “shrink the federal workforce” and reduce benefits for “entitlements”, i.e. social programs. What they do not have a way to understand is that the entire budget deficit crisis is a direct result of specific policies enacted by former president George W. Bush and the Republican-controlled Congress of 2001-2006.
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November 13, 2010 :: Webb Tisch :: Comments Off
In one of the least informed, most reckless votes of the 2010 midterm elections, a racist ideologue aiming to intimidate Oklahomans into voting for him and his party, pushed an unconstitutional response to a non-existent threat. The referendum aimed at preventing Islamic sharia law from supplanting the United States Constitution was a response to a non-existent threat, and it includes language that directly contradicts the Constitution of the United States.
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November 13, 2010 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
The lame duck Congress, with enormous Democratic majorities in both houses, will have to decide what to do about the Bush tax cuts, which are set to expire on the first of January. The Republicans will not take control of the House of Representatives until after the deadline on the Bush tax cuts. The Democratic plan is devoted to two things: the middle class and fiscal responsibility. The Republican plan is devoted to one thing: delivering as much free cash to millionaires as possible, all while ballooning the deficit enormously.
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November 10, 2010 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
An incoming Republican member of the House of Representatives, Alan Nunnelee of Mississippi, has said he would hold the U.S. government hostage in order to make sure millions of Americans are stripped of their health insurance and their healthcare rights. The Affordable Care Act, the most important reform to the health insurance markets since Medicare, and the most comprehensive reform in 100 years, bars insurers from denying coverage or treatment due to “pre-existing conditions”, it reduces the federal budget deficit and incentivizes the training of 20,000 new primary care physicians.
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November 4, 2010 :: staff :: Comments Off
Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell today spoke to the Heritage Foundation, and called on Pres. Obama to compromise by doing what the Senate minority wants. His speech was at intervals irrational and in turn smelled of sour grapes (McConnell did not get to take control of the Senate, so he proposes his party empower him by continuing to obstruct every proposal made to benefit the American people). But perhaps worst of all, McConnell proposed the Republican majority in the House of Representatives misuse its Constitutional authority to control the purse and violate federal law by undermining provisions of the Affordable Care Act designed to ensure sick Americans are not denied care.
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November 3, 2010 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
The vicious, at times shameful, elections of 2010, full of more vitriol and more defamatory ads than any in memory, flush with record sums of corporate spending, and in an environment of deep economic malaise, have given the Republicans control of the House of Representatives, while Democrats retain control of the Senate. Rep. John Boehner [...]
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November 2, 2010 :: staff :: Comments Off
If you are trying to vote in today’s election and have any questions or concerns about irregularities, or if you’re having trouble casting a verifiable vote, with a paper trail, be sure to contact the Verified Voting national voter hot-line at 1-866-OUR-VOTE (687-8683). If you are unsure about where to vote or what your rights [...]
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November 1, 2010 :: Eva Scherson :: Comments Off
The anti-immigrant Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio has won notoriety across the world for his roundups of people he determines to be “likely illegal immigrants”, whom he then detains in tent camps in the desert heat. Now, he has been forced to sever ties with an anti-immigrant group, after it sent out a mass email claiming he planned to spearhead an effort to prevent Hispanic Americans from exercising their Constitutional right to vote.
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November 1, 2010 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
The federal government of the United States is experiencing major annual budget deficits. Republicans have spent most of the last two years decrying “tax and spend liberals” for causing such deficits. But every penny of the current federal budget deficit is directly attributable to specific policies enacted under George W. Bush. And Republicans are promising to return to and expand the very same policies put in place by Bush.
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October 31, 2010 :: staff :: Comments Off
Advertisement targets the following groups for spending millions in secret, undisclosed donations to fund campaign attack ads: Americans for Prosperity, Americans for Job Security, American Future Fund, American Crossroads GPS, American Action Network. The web ad was temporarily pulled from the Think Progress website, while lawyers reviewed its content. The ad has since been reposted.
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October 31, 2010 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
Amid allegations the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is using membership dues and donations from foreign firms to wage an all-out ad-war against Democratic politics, at least 275 members are demanding the group cease its “punitive campaign” against anyone who supported the Affordable Care Act and reveal their sources and methods of funding the ads.
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October 31, 2010 :: staff :: Comments Off
I can’t control what people think this was. I can only tell you my intentions. This was not a rally to ridicule people of faith or people of activism or to look down our noses at the heartland or passionate argument or to suggest that times are not difficult and that we have nothing to fear. They are and we do. But we live now in hard times, not end times. And we can have animus and not be enemies.
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October 31, 2010 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
The United States midterm Congressional elections, which include votes for state-level executive and legislative officials, will determine how the electoral map might be redrawn for the next 10 years, helping to give one party an advantage over the other. Congressional districts are redrawn roughly every ten years, when new official federal Census data (gathered every [...]
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October 31, 2010 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
Republicans are hoping their two-year-long strategy of relentless obstructionism, their quest to undermine the government of Pres. Barack Obama in hopes of prolonging economic hardship and using generalized malaise to defeat the Democrats will hand them control of both houses of Congress. But increasingly, analysts appear convinced the House may likely shift to Republicans, while the Senate will not. The challenge of governing with only one house majority may be the greatest challenge to the Republican cause in 2012.
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October 30, 2010 :: staff :: Comments Off
Pres. Obama, in a campaign rally in Bridgeport, Connecticut, spoke about the need to defend American consumers against abuses, put hardworking American families first, protect and build the middle class by making education more affordable and giving students a better education. He reminded a cheering crowd that “Germany aren’t cutting education by 20%; they’re not [...]
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October 30, 2010 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
The Rally to Restore Sanity (and/or Fear), hosted by superstar comic news anchors Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert on the National Mall in Washington, DC, has drawn hundreds of thousands of people from across the country. Turnout was estimated at 300,000 beforehand, but images from the Mall show an edge-to-edge crowd filling the lawn from the stage at least as far back as the Washington Monument, meaning the total could well exceed 500,000 people.
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October 27, 2010 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
Chuck Hagel, the former Republican senator from Nebraska, writes: “Every variation of public service, including elective office, should be anchored by one complete and overriding truth and objective—to make a better world,” as part of a powerful statement urging civility and good-will from all who seek to involve themselves in the work of public service. Hagel’s open letter to the political world comes at a time when many election observers say the campaign of 2010 is the most degenerate and ill-intentioned in memory, where lies are prevailing over evidence and the ability to commit to effective and relentless distortion has become the most sought-after weapon of campaigners.
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October 26, 2010 :: staff :: Comments Off
One of the men who physically assaulted a MoveOn.org supporter who sought to deliver a corporate corruption “prize” to Republican candidate Rand Paul has been identified. He was the Paul campaign’s coordinator for Bourbon County, Kentucky, but has been fired in the wake of his assault on Ms. Valle. Tim Profitt has reportedly admitted to being the assailant and has issued conflicting statements regarding the incident: apologizing and also claiming the “camera angle” makes his assault, in which he stomped his boot on Ms. Valle’s neck and head, look worse than it was.
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October 26, 2010 :: staff :: Comments Off
Outside a debate between candidates for the Senate in Kentucky, Rand Paul (R) and Jack Conway (D), a gang of apparent supporters of Tea Party favorite Rand Paul brutally assaulted a woman representing the progressive organization MoveOn.org. The progressive activist was seized by Paul supporters, thrown to the ground, beaten and kicked; at least one Paul supporter is shown on video stomping on her neck and head with violent force.
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October 25, 2010 :: staff :: Comments Off
This online advertisement is directed at motivating progressives and independents to vote in the 2010 presidential election. It is unique because it implements several of the tactical approaches of successful viral marketing campaigns, speaking directly to the viewer, putting known faces in humorous or startling situations, and calling attention to a perceived ongoing problem relating to the political sphere with hyperbole artfully used to represent serious policy issues.
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October 16, 2010 :: staff :: Comments Off
[F]or years, our tax code has actually given billions of dollars in tax breaks that encourage companies to create jobs and profits in other countries. I want to close these tax loopholes. Instead, I want to give every business in America a tax break so they can write off the cost of all new equipment they buy next year. That’s going to make it easier for folks to expand and hire new people. I want to make the research and experimentation tax credit permanent. Because promoting new ideas and technologies is how we’ll create jobs and retain our edge as the world’s engine of discovery and innovation. And I want to provide a tax cut for clean energy manufacturing right here in America. Because that’s how we’ll lead the world in this growing industry.
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October 13, 2010 :: Eva Scherson :: Comments Off
Karl Rove is a professional liar who has made it his priority to worship at the feet of billionaire corporate interests and those among the wealthy who prefer to avoid doing their part to repay the society that made them wealthy. His modus operandi is: formulate a series of falsehoods which will be repeated by as many individuals, media outlets and sources of propaganda as possible, and support that campaign with money from anyone with enough vested interest that the money will not stop flowing.
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October 2, 2010 :: staff :: Comments Off
The ‘One Nation Working Together’ rally on the National Mall in Washington, DC, is projected to gather 200,000 progressive activists, volunteers and supporters from around the country. There are sister rallies taking place across the country, as part of a collective effort to promote progressive values and “demand change”. The rally has been said to show the progressive base is highly energized and will mobilize to support Democrats and Pres. Obama’s reform agenda.
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