United States Senate will vote this summer on an amendment to overturn Citizens United and McCutcheon.

If you missed it, the United States Senate will vote this summer on an amendment to overturn Citizens United and McCutcheon.

Nobody has done more than Public Citizen over the past four years to build up to this moment.

But we have some serious work to do so that this upcoming vote is a major step closer to the amendment required to rescue our democracy from billionaires and Big Business.

In about an hour, Public Citizen’s board of directors will be sitting down for its semi-annual meeting. This is where we formalize our policy and spending priorities for the next six months.

And we’re looking very closely at the response to the series of emails I’ve sent this week asking our supporters to chip in right now and show us that we can afford to push very aggressively.

What we’ve got by the time the board breaks for lunch at noon today will inform the deliberations about our amendment campaign this afternoon.

Contribute by noon today if you want to help make sure Public Citizen can continue leading the charge to defend our democracy from the likes of Karl Rove and the Koch Brothers.

Sincerely,

Robert Weismann,
    President of Public Citizen

---

Here are some rather famous words:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Public Citizen and "We the People" vs. the Koch Brothers

Here are some rather famous words:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

That, of course, is the Preamble to the United States Constitution.

Notice how it starts with “We the People” not “They the Plutocrats”?

Yet the Koch Brothers and other plutocratic forces are feverishly attempting to undermine our democracy under cover of supposed constitutional rights afforded them by severely misguided U.S. Supreme Court rulings like Citizens United and McCutcheon.

That’s where you come in.

As part of Public Citizen, you’ve helped build the momentum for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and McCutcheon.

And now the U.S. Senate is expected to vote on just such an amendment later this term.

Considering how many people questioned whether an amendment was possible when we first launched the campaign to win one just four years ago, this is a major milestone and a moment we simply must capitalize on fully.

Here’s what we have to do in the weeks and months ahead:

• Massively scale up our nationwide grassroots mobilization, which has already seen 16 states, 550 cities and towns, and 150 members of Congress join us in calling for an amendment.

• Organize many more local and national groups to join the 120-plus that are already allied with us in solving the problem of money in politics and in connecting that problem to other issues that impact people’s lives.

• Intensify our lobbying work here in Washington, D.C., so that the American people know which senators are with them and which senators are with the dark money.

• Turn up our media outreach so that the public demand for an amendment gets even more attention than it already has.

The latest poll shows that 8 out of 10 Americans oppose Citizens United.

We know the American people want these anti-democratic Supreme Court rulings overturned.

We know we have an opportunity in the Senate that we haven’t seen in a generation.

And we know what the next steps are.

So we — you, me, and Public Citizen — have to do the hard work to go from “where there’s a will” to “there’s a way.”

The Koch Brothers and their ilk do not have a lot of people in their corner. They do, though, have quite a lot of money in their virtually bottomless pockets.

We have the people power to win no matter how much the Koch Brothers spend. But we need some baseline level of financial stability to activate that people power.

Can you chip in $5 or more right now to help push our defense of democracy forward — at this moment four years in the making?

Public Citizen’s board of directors is meeting in two days to formalize this organization’s programmatic and budgetary plans for the next six months.

My board is ready to ramp up our constitutional amendment campaign, but it needs to see that Public Citizen’s supporters are resolutely behind us.

Please remember, Public Citizen — to protect our unimpeachable credibility when it comes to holding corporations and the government accountable — does not accept funding from Big Business or Uncle Sam.

When we win, it’s because you give us the strength to keep fighting.

Show our board of directors that you want Public Citizen to be as aggressive as it possibly can be at this critical point in our campaign to overturn Citizens United and McCutcheon.

Thank you so much for standing with us.

Robert Weissman
President, Public Citizen

© 2014 Public Citizen • 1600 20th Street, NW / Washington, D.C. 20009

The Truth About “Regulatory Reform”

June 22, 2011 http://www.citizen.org
Public Citizen, 1600 20th Street,N.W.,Washington, D.C. 20008 (202)588-1000

Critics of regulation characterize the regulatory process as an opaque, anti-democratic exercise of power by unelected bureaucrats who are not beholden to the public. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The rulemaking process provides numerous opportunities for public input. The final implementation of a regulation is the result of a lengthy deliberation that includes numerous opportunities for public participation by all small businesses, private industries, state and local governments, and members of the public subject to the regulation.

 Small businesses have multiple chances to influence regulations.

o The Regulatory Flexibility Act and the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act1 assure small business involvement at two stages of the regulatory process when regulations are proposed that would impact small business interests. Agencies must prepare an initial and final regulatory flexibility analysis which determines the number of smabusinesses affected, compliance requirements for them, and any alternatives to minimize economic

o Three agencies, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), must give small businesses a preview of new proposals and receive extensive feedback from small businesses by convening special panels before even giving notice to other affected groups and the broader public.
o
The Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration is specifically designated to represent small business interests in the regulatory process by consulting and providing input to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).3

 Corporate Interests have unparalleled access to influence regulations. As part of the Cost-Benefit Analysis stage of the regulatory process, mandated by Executive Order 12,866,4 private
__________________________________________________________________________________
1 5 U.S.C. §§ 601‐612 (2011).

2 5 U.S.C. § 603(a)‐(c) (2011). 3 Id. regulations the OMB deems ‘major’. This analysis must quantify both the costs of implementing the regulation (including compliance costs for impacted entities) and the benefits that would accrue from the regulation. Then, OMB subjects this analysis to its own intensive review process including another layer of cost‐benefit analysis. Finally, OMB either approves the rule without changes, approves the rule contingent upon certain changes requested by OMB, or returns the rule to the issuing agency for reconsideration. Cost‐benefit analyses have been criticized for being unduly deferential to a riance costs while underestimating potential benefits.
regulation’s implementation and complh
http://www.progressivereform.org/costBenefit.cfm Executive Order 12,866 § 6(b)(4)(B). 44of a Key Public Safety Rule,” Public Citizen (April 2011) available at redirect.cfm?ID=3317
“Cranes and Derricks: The Prolonged Creation http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/pressroom.
4 H.R. 10 sponsored by Rep. Geoff Davis (R‐KY).
_________________________________________________________________________________
industry and affected stakeholders are often given a first chance to review and influence proposed rules in private meetings with the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs staff at the OMB.5 These non-transparent meetings result in business interests having disproportionately greater access and ability to influence final rules compared to the general public.

 Public comments are encouraged and highly valued. Once a proposed regulation is published, agencies encourage commenters to provide criticism and suggestions for improving the proposed regulation. The public comment period is a critical feature of the regulatory process that agencies take very seriously as an opportunity to benefit from the additional expertise that many members of the public possess. They thoroughly review all comments submitted to determine how best to improve the proposed regulation.
Incorporating public input is time-consuming. Agencies typically take care in soliciting, responding to, and incorporating public input, which unfortunately can result in long delays of much-needed public protections. For instance, the Cranes and Derricks Rule: It took a dozen years for the OSHA to finalize a non-controversial regulation that was badly-needed to prevent workers from the dangers posed by cranes at construction sites and actually solicited by industry. 6
Many recent “regulatory reform” proposals are misguided and dangerous. These reform proposals would place more burdens on resource-strapped agencies, in turn potentially dissuading agencies from undertaking implementation of essential regulations.

 The REINS Act (H.R. 10/S 299) kills any final rule not explicitly approved by Congress and the president within 70 legislative days, no matter how important or uncontroversial the rule.7

 Small business “regulatory reform” bills introduce judicial review earlier in the rulemaking process, require agencies to determine ‘indirect’ costs of proposed rules, and tie up resource-strapped agencies with periodic reviews of existing rules, all of which lead to more regulatory uncertainty.8
The Bottom Line: “regulatory reform” legislation would touch all agencies and would delay or kill even non-controversial protections.
We should not risk bringing public protections to a grinding halt when the current regulatory process offers abundant opportunities for public participation.
__________________________________________________________________________________
4 See S. Amdt. 390 sponsored by Sen. Snowe (R‐ME). 4 58 Fed. Reg. 51,735 ( Sept. 30, 1993). Executive Order 12,866 requires both the agency issuing the regulation, as well as the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), located within the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), to conduct reviews of the proposed regulation. First, the issuing agency must conduct a Regulatory Impact Analysis for all regulations the OMB deems ‘major’. This analysis must quantify both the costs of implementing the regulation (including compliance costs for impacted entities) and the benefits that would accrue from the regulation. Then, OMB subjects this analysis to its own intensive review process including another layer of cost‐benefit analysis. Finally, OMB either approves the rule without changes, approves the rule contingent upon certain changes requested by OMB, or returns the rule to the issuing agency for reconsideration. Cost‐benefit analyses hferential to a regulation’s implementation and compliance costs while
ave been criticized for being unduly deu
nderestimating potential benefits. http://www.progressivereform.org/costBenefit.cfm Executive Order 12,866 § 6(b)(4)(B). 56of a Key Public Safety Rule,” Public Citizen (April 2011) available at ct.cfm?ID=3317
“Cranes and Derricks: The Prolonged Creation htp
t://www.citizen.org/pressroom/pressroomredire .
7 H.R. 10 sponsored by Rep. Geoff Davis (R‐KY). 8 See S. Amdt. 390 sponsored by Sen. Snowe (R‐ME).

Who wants to be a billionaire? Public Citiizen's Proposal to Control Hedge Fund Managers

Hello Concerned Citizens,

The average pay for the top 25 hedge fund managers was $1 billion each in 2009.(1)

So one year after Wall Street crashed the economy and plunged the middle class into its worst crisis since the Great Depression, some of the people who created the crisis became newly made billionaires.

Help us show public support for ending Wall Street’s outrageous pay practices.
Sign the petition: Wall Street must be stopped from rewarding itself for making more trouble.

These 25 hedge fund managers made $25 billion. Now, what else costs $25 billion?

How about NASA? You know, the federal agency that employs thousands and thousands of scientists and engineers? NASA’s budget in 2010 was less than $19 billion.(2)

Guess what else is close? Wisconsin. Gov. Scott Walker’s budget cuts that put corporations before people make that state’s full year budget come to $29.3 billion.(3)

Why, with just a few more cuts, Walker could just sell the whole state to these 25 hedge fund managers. How’s that for “fiscal responsibility” and “free enterprise”?

It’s simply obscene that Wall Street gamblers are raking in such vast sums of wealth. And what is our society getting out of the deal? Increased economic instability and unemployment for 1 out of every 10 American workers.

Sign the petition to end Wall Street’s outrageous pay practices:


Thanks for all you do,

Rick Claypool
Public Citizen’s Online Action Team
action@citizen.org

1. Gilbert, Lisa and Bartlett Naylor. “The Unified Pay Theory,” Huffington Post. March 7, 2011.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-gilbert/the-unified-pay-theory_b_830165.html

2. News Release. “NASA Announces Fiscal Year 2010 Budget,” May 7, 2009
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2009/may/HQ_09-102_FY2010Budget.html

3. State of Wisconsin – Department of Administration. March 1, 2011
http://www.doa.state.wi.us/debf/execbudget.asp


Visit our Financial Reform page to learn more about Public Citizen's work to hold big banks accountable. To get regular e-alerts about opportunities for activism and other ways to help with Public Citizen's work, sign up for the Public Citizen Action Network. If you do want to receive future emails from Public Citizen, go to http://action.citizen.org/subscribe.jsp.

Contribute | © 2011 Public Citizen | Take Action

Wall Street Is Driving Up Heating Bills?

It's likely that no bankers are sneaking into your house like cobbler’s elves to turn up your thermostat.

But Wall Street still could be driving up your heating bills.

Here’s how: Wall Street banks gamble on what they think future energy costs will be. By dominating the market in these “energy futures,” they actually raise the price of energy for you and me. Without competition in these markets, these prices stay artificially high — and so do big bank profits.

Tell the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to stand up for consumers and to end bank domination of energy markets.

Thankfully, a part of the Wall Street reform law that passed last summer is designed to end bank domination of energy markets. Basically, the law gives a federal agency called the Commodity Futures Trading Commission the authority to make these markets more transparent and competitive.

But, of course, the banks have hired lobbyists to fight the agency’s rules every step of the way.

Wall Street bankers are keeping energy prices artificially high by keeping these energy futures markets secret just so they can make even more profits.

Take action now! Go to: Citizen.org Energy Futures Petition

It’s time to shine some sunlight on bank activities that drive up consumer prices. Tell the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to stand up for consumers.

Thanks for all you do,

Rick Claypool
Public Citizen's Online Action Team
action@citizen.org

Visit our Financial Reform page to learn more about Public Citizen's work to hold big banks accountable. To get regular e-alerts about opportunities for activism and other ways to help with Public Citizen's work, sign up for the Public Citizen Action Network.
Contribute | © 2011 Public Citizen | Take Action

Fight Corporate Offshoring of U.S. Jobs - Free Trade = Job Loss

Corporate offshoring of American jobs to low-wage countries has become one of the defining issues of the 2010 elections.

Even The Wall Street Journal—not exactly a cornerstone of the supposed “liberal media”—just published a survey with some revealing results about who and what is to blame for our nation’s poor economy:

86% of Americans believe that offshoring of jobs by U.S. companies contributed to our sluggish economy.
Nearly 7 out of 10 people—an all time high—say that “free trade” agreements with other countries cost us jobs here at home.
Over three-quarters of Americans consider corporate profit-seeking a factor in the downturn.
This is not news to you, or to Public Citizen. Time and time again, we have proven that flawed trade policies and blind corporate greed are eroding the U.S. economy.

Now, our Global Trade Watch team has launched an innovative, interactive website to give you the knowledge to be a more informed voter by seeing the full impact the corporate pursuit of profits has on jobs, the environment and our communities.

Check out Public Citizen’s Trade Data Center.

This powerful new tool is just the latest example of the tremendous amount of research, education and advocacy that Public Citizen does to expose and counteract policies that benefit mega-corporations at the expense of We, the People.

This powerful new tool is just the latest example of the tremendous amount of research, education and advocacy that Public Citizen does to expose and counteract policies that benefit mega-corporations at the expense of We, the People.

Lost jobs. Corporate greed. Of course these are the issues you care about. And Nobody is more committed to reforming the failed trade regime and challenging runaway corporate power than Public Citizen.

With your support, Public Citizen can continue developing resources like the Trade Data Center and fighting for policies that benefit all of us, not just the multinationals.

Onward!
Robert Weissman, President

To get regular e-alerts about opportunities for activism and other ways to help with Public Citizen's work, sign up for the Public Citizen Action Network.

Goldman Sachs: Fraud and Profit ! The Devil is an Investment Banker !

Unbelievable. Goldman Sachs, the Wall Street titan under investigation for defrauding investors, has posted profits of more than $3.5 billion over the past three months.

fat cat
Tell the Senate to fight for taxpayers and consumers!
Watch our new video about our financial reform strategy as you sign the petition to tell your senators to rein in Wall Street's predatory and risky practices.

These "too-big-to-fail" monstrosities that caused the crisis remain out of control - and just a few bad bets away from another bailout.

Over the next week, heated debate on the Senate floor will focus on financial reform. We expect several attempts will be made to weaken consumer protections and create giant loopholes for the big banks.

Wall Street is lobbying harder than ever to fight reform. For the big banks, anything that stands in the way of their big bonuses, bailouts and casino capitalism is a threat.

Meanwhile, families across America trying to make an honest living continue to struggle.To learn more about Public Citizen's financial reform work,Vist/Click Here

Support reform! Take action to prevent a repeat of the crisis that plunged us into the Great Recession. Sign the petition for real financial reform.

Goldman Sachs and the rest on Wall Street are back to their old financial tricks and lobbying harder than ever to fight reform. For the big banks, anything that stands in the way of their big bonuses, bailouts and casino capitalism is a threat.

Keep up the fight. Take action for strong financial reform today!

Thank you for all you do.

Rick, Angela and Glenn
Your advocates at Public Citizen
action@citizen.org

donate

To learn more about Public Citizen's financial reform work,Vist/Click Here To get regular e-alerts about opportunities for activism and other ways to help with Public Citizen's work, sign up for the Public Citizen Action Network.

Tell Your Senators to Support Medicare-for-All

The Senate is picking up the health care reform debate where the House left off. Make sure your senators hear from you and not just insurance industry lobbyists.
A drawing of people huddled under a large umbrella that represents
donate button

Take action right now!Email your senators and ask them to support single-payer, "Medicare-for-All" reform.

Tell 10 friends how to take action, too.

Today, 120 Americans will die because they lack health insurance. That's 45,000 Americans every year. America is a pay or die country. If you can't afford to pay ever-rising insurance premiums, you could die.

It doesn't have to be this way.

But the legislation working its way through Congress will do little to change it. The best-case scenario will leave millions of Americans uninsured, costs will continue to spiral out of control, and insurance corporations will continue to generate obscene profits by denying coverage to the sick and injured.

Single-payer, "Medicare-for-All" reform will break the stranglehold insurance companies have on you and your family. It will cover everyone. Everybody in, nobody out.

We have to act now!

Email your senators and ask them to support single-payer, "Medicare-for-All" reform.

Tell 10 friends how to take action, too.

We just can't wait any longer. The body count is rising.

Together, we can win this fight.

Onward to "Medicare-for-All"!

Angela, Glenn & Rick
Your advocates at Public Citizen
feedback@citizen.org

Stay informed and speak out when it counts.
Sign up for the Public Citizen Action Network or other online announcement

"Obama pay cuts a good start, but more is needed" says Public Citizen

October 22, 2009 by Robert Weissman

For the first time, the government appears to be set to take some meaningful action against business fat cats who a) run companies that exist only because of billions of dollars of taxpayer supports and b) still see fit to pay themselves obscene salaries.

The New York Times and other outlets report that Obama administration pay czar Kenneth Feinberg will require executives and top employees at the most bailed-out firms to cut back on salary by 50 percent. If these reports are true, Mr. Feinberg and the Obama administration deserve applause – with one big caveat.

Until now, there has been no systemic mechanism of accountability imposed on top-paid executives and employees at the bailed-out firms. They destroyed their own businesses, not to mention the national economy, but felt entitled nonetheless to hyper-compensation. And the government has done little to discipline them. Now, it appears Feinberg is prepared to do that – for a narrow category of bailout recipients.

Notably, Feinberg reportedly will cap salary and bonuses at AIG Financial Products, the division that brought down a giant multinational and led the government to shovel tens of billions of dollars into AIG, at $200,000. This is an extraordinarily high salary for most people in America, but by the standards of Wall Street it is modest to the point of humbling.

Feinberg has authority only to limit pay at seven bailed-out companies. However, Wall Street itself would likely be out of business but for the trillions of dollars of federal supports it has received, including an array of ongoing supports from the Federal Reserve.

Wall Street firms outside of the Feinberg Seven apparently have no compunction about returning to the outrageous pay practices that helped create the financial crisis. Wall Street is on track to pay an obscene $140 billion in bonuses and compensation, according to Wall Street Journal calculations.

Congress and the administration have demanded no reciprocity for saving the financial system from the financiers outside of the Feinberg Seven. Now is the time to start.

Congress should act immediately to impose a windfall bonus and profits tax on Wall Street. Some substantial portion of the funds that Wall Street aims to pocket as bonus payments and profit-taking should be returned to the public treasury.

Hyper-pay for executives and top traders is not just a symbolic issue. Crazy bonuses linked to this year’s performance helped incentivize dangerous, short-term betting – making it rational to bet on the housing bubble to continue to inflate, even in the face of certainty that it would eventually pop with devastating effects for financial firms (not to mention homeowners, communities and the national and global economy). Separate from addressing the scale of bonus compensation, it is imperative that Congress mandate that bonus payments be based on long-term performance over the course of a business cycle – ideally 10 years, but not less than seven.

Robert Weissman is president of Public Citizen.

Ten Years After Seattle, It's Time For a WTO Turnaround!

Ten years ago next month, 50,000 global activists shut down the World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial in Seattle. Public Citizen played a key role, going so far as to open up a temporary Seattle office to help organize the protests. History was made when a devastating plan to expand the WTO's reign of corporate globalization was derailed.

On November 30, 2009 - ten years to the day of the Seattle protests - trade ministers and their corporate allies will meet in Geneva to try once again to expand the WTO, in spite of the global economic disaster caused by their failed policies. We can't let that happen. Instead, we must join activists worldwide in demanding that the existing damaging WTO regime be fundamentally transformed!

That's why we're launching a new WTO Turnaround campaign today. We must remind President Obama that true change requires him to deliver on his campaign commitments to create a new American trade model and to fix the old agreements now causing so much harm. Visit the campaign website WTOturnaround.org and sign the petition to President Obama.

Public Citizen started working on "trade" when we realized that agreements like the WTO weren't about tariffs and quotas anymore, but instead were a backdoor attack on key public interest policies. From imported food and product safety to environmental protection and financial services regulation, the WTO places limits on what we can do to solve these problems.

Following the historic events in Seattle in 1999, our work to expose the current globalization model gained widespread prominence and acceptance. We can once again harness the spirit of Seattle to remind our friends and neighbors, as well as President Obama, that the existing WTO terms still are having a devastating impact on our jobs, economic security, food safety and the environment. Rather than expand the WTO's corporate agenda, we must change the existing rules.

To deliver on just about every important issue of our day, from solving the climate crisis to reregulating the financial industry, President Obama will need to repair existing WTO rules to make sure the WTO doesn't get in the way of fixing these urgent problems.

Tell President Obama we're ready to fight for a WTO turnaround plan and to work with him to create rules for a global economy that, as he put it, works for all of us not just large corporate interests. Then, ask your friends to join us.
Support Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch

Thanks for all that you do,
Lori Wallach
Director, Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch division

P.S. Over the next few weeks, you'll hear more about our WTOturnaround.org efforts. We'll be organizing house parties to view the film Battle in Seattle, grassroots rallies and more. But first, you can sign our petition to Obama and urge your friends to do so as well.

Final DOD Appropriations bill MUST include the Franken Amendment, S.A. 2588.

Thanks to help from activists like you, lawmakers passed Sen. Al Franken's (D-Minn.) amendment to bar defense contractors from forcing employees with sexual assault and discrimination claims into arbitration. But now, as the House and Senate negotiate a final version of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act (DOD Appropriations bill, H.R. 3326), Senate leaders are considering weakening the amendment by leaving discrimination victims unprotected.

A man crawling across an endless field of contracts toward the scales of justice far in the distance,
Call Sen. Reid today!
Stand up to corporate defense contractors on behalf of victims of discrimination and assault! Call Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) TODAY and tell him the final DOD Appropriations bill MUST include the Franken Amendment, S.A. 2588.

No one -- especially a victim of a heinous, violent crime -- should be denied access to a judge and jury because of a binding mandatory arbitration clause in a contract. Please help ensure that this important amendment is passed and this abuse of power by government defense contractors ends.

Call Sen. Reid today and tell him not to strip out or water down the Franken Amendment! You'll find instructions and talking points on our Web site. Please don't forget to let us know what you hear!

donate Thank you for all you do,

Rick, Angela and Glenn
Your Advocates at Public Citizen
action@citizen.org

P.S. After you speak with your senators or their staff, let us know how it went! Complete the easy form on our Web page after dialing, or send us an email at action@citizen.org.

Single-Payer Now

Max Baucus. Know the name? Max Baucus is the Democratic senator from Montana, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and Public Health Enemy Number One in Congress.

How so, you ask? Well, all health care reform legislation this year will go through Max Baucus. And Max Baucus has taken single-payer - also known as Medicare-for-all - off the table.
Six people huddling under a large umbrella that represents universal, single-payer health care.Support Public Citizen today!

This is unacceptable. Single-payer is not just the best answer - it's the only answer.

That's why Public Citizen is working to pass single-payer health care reform and needs your immediate help.

Please make a generous contribution today.
Contribute Now

Every other proposal now being floated in Washington is mere piecemeal tinkering and will fail. The American people get this. According to recent polls, the majority of Americans - and the majority of doctors - want a single-payer health care system in the United States.

Over the past two election cycles, Max Baucus has received more campaign contributions from the health insurance and pharmaceutical corporations than any other current Democratic member of the House or Senate. Big Corporate Money issues the order: "Take single-payer off the table." And Max Baucus takes single-payer off the table.

So, it has come down to this: the American people versus the health insurance and drug corporations. That's why Public Citizen needs your immediate help to fight for single-payer, Medicare-for-all health care reform.
Contribute Now

There is no legitimate opposition to single-payer. That's why corporate interests can't argue the facts against single-payer. Instead, they say it's not politically feasible. Translation: The drug and health insurance companies have a stranglehold on Congress.

So, what are we going to do about it? The momentum is building for single-payer in the United States. But time is of the essence. Every day, roughly 100 Americans die from lack of health insurance. Every day, hundreds go bankrupt from medical bills.

This is a disgrace that must end. Now.

Contribute Now

Now is the time. Push has come to shove on health care. Help us muscle up to defeat the health insurance industry. To defeat the drug industry. And to deliver universal health care-single-payer, everybody in, nobody out-to the American people.

Contribute Now

Onward to single-payer!

Robert Weissman
President, Public Citizen
president@citizen.org

Stay informed and speak out when it counts.Sign up for the Public Citizen Action Network or other online announcements.

Say no to unlimited corporate $$$ in #politics!

Staging a funeral for U.S. democracy. Picketing a member of Congress' local office. Holding a satirical "Corporations Are People Too" demonstration at state capitol. These are just a few of the inspiring protest ideas we've heard activists like you are planning for tomorrow. It's not too late to ask your friends to pledge to protest and organize a street action -- or protest in whatever way you're able!

A corporate titan driving a giant steamroller that is about to crush the U.S. Capitol building, showing corporate influence in elections.
Don't Get Rolled!www.DontGetRolled.org
Tomorrow, on 9/9/09, the Supreme Court begins hearing re-arguments in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission at 10 a.m. As you've heard from us, what is at stake is more than one hundred years of limits on corporate influence in our political system. A bad decision in this case could open the floodgates of corporate money in our elections.

Corporations already have outsized influence over our political process. Corporations are not voters and should not be allowed to roll over the public interest with their economic interests! In fact, this is settled law. But, the Supreme Court is going out of its way -- holding a special session tomorrow -- to revisit the rights of corporations to spend from their treasuries to influence our elections.

That's why we need you to protest and help us show that Americans want less corporate influence -- not more!

Please visit www.DontGetRolled.org to sign our protest petition and learn more about what others have pledged to do tomorrow.

We look forward to making a lot of noise with you! Please send us your photos, videos and stories to share at action@citizen.org.

Thank you for all you do!

Rick, Angela and Glenn
Your Advocates at Public Citizendonate
action@citizen.org

P.S.: Keep spreading the word on Twitter: RT @Public_Citizen: Say no to unlimited corporate $$$ in #politics! Sign the petition & pledge to protest Sept 9 on www.DontGetRolled.org. And visit us on Facebook.

The public is fed up with corporate influence blocking progress ....

As I wrote to you a couple of weeks ago, the U.S. Supreme Court may soon allow corporations to spend as much as they want promoting or opposing political candidates. Democracy as we know it could be rolled over by unlimited corporate money in politics.

A corporate titan driving a giant steamroller that is about to crush the U.S. Capitol building, showing corporate influence in elections.
Don't Get Rolled!
Yes, it's okay to be outraged.

Do something about it at DontGetRolled.org!

In a stunning move, the justices are returning early from their summer vacation after ordering the parties in a little-known case to argue whether the court should overturn longstanding restrictions on corporate campaign spending.

The public is fed up with corporate influence blocking progress on health care, climate change, trade, the economy--on everything. But the Supreme Court could make things much, much worse.

Pledge to protest!

The Supreme Court is way out of touch--and way out of line. We need to raise awareness and send a message the justices will hear.

Tell your friends. Write a letter. Start a blog. Picket. Do street theater. Do whatever you can!

Learn more about how to get involved, share your ideas and take the "Pledge to Protest" at DontGetRolled.org today.

donate Thank you for all you do!

Sidney M. Wolfe, M.D.
feedback@citizen.org

Stay informed and speak out when it counts.
Sign up for the Public Citizen Action Network or other online announcements.

Close an absurd legal loophole that allows "insider trading" by government officials.

We need you to take action today to close an absurd legal loophole that allows "insider trading" by government officials.

Stop "insider trading" on Capitol Hill!
Believe it or not, members of Congress, high-ranking appointees in the executive branch, and other federal employees who have access to non-public information about publicly traded companies can use that information to buy or sell securities or commodities for personal gain.

Lobbyists--and "political intelligence consultants" paid specifically to haunt the halls of Congress for insider tips--can also get away with this crooked and potentially corrupt practice.

This kind of insider trading is already illegal for corporate executives, Wall Street brokers, and ordinary citizens. This kind of insider trading should be illegal for people who work in and around the government, too.

The Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, introduced by Representatives Brian Baird (D-Wash.), Louise McIntosh Slaughter (D-N.Y.), and Tim Walz (D-Minn.), would close this loophole and prohibit insider trading by federal employees and others who try to cash in on non-public knowledge gleaned from public officials.

This is a no-brainer. The people entrusted to monitor the financial services industry on our behalf must not be tempted to exploit their privileged status for personal gain.

An important hearing on this bill is taking place next week. Use our simple online form and urge your representative to support the STOCK Act today!

Thank you for all you do!

Angela, Eric, Glenn & Maureen
Your Action Team at Public Citizen's Congress Watch Division
action@citizen.org


To learn more about real financial accountability and security, click here

Sign up for the Public Citizen Action Network or other online announcements.
If this message was forwarded to you,Sign up to receive action alerts from Public Citizen


Support our work at Public Citizen

Web Success 4You.biz

I thought I'd refresh everyone's memory and update my blog readers to the main directories on my website which now receives about 6,500 unique visitors a day and has 5,225 pages:

The Best Web Internet Success Businesses: Work at Home To Make Money Online,Stay Healthy & Travel the World:Web Success at Home with 1000+ FREE RESOURCES,25+ Income programs & 10+ SEO Programs:


Advertising:INTERNET ADVERTISING STRATEGIES, COMPANIES and TOOLS:
USFreeAds,AdBrite,BidVertiser,Audio in SplashPages,MyFreeAdBoard,MisterLinker,
TrueViewTraffic,CrocAds,GlobalSafelists,GoogleAdsForFree.


Free AdBoard


Animals:Plants Poisonous to Plants,Is Chocolate Dangerous?,Free Dog Training Basics and Pet Alive:Flea Derm, FurBall


Art


AutomotiveHow To Make/Save Money with
AUTOMOTIVE,Automobiles:Gasoline,Diesel,Battery,BioFuel,Electrical,Hydrogen,
Solar & Water Powered Vehicles & Double Your Gas Mileage with Water4Gas


Computer SecurityESSENTIAL PROCEDURES:NUMBER 1 SECURITY RULE: NEVER SURF in ADMINISTRATOR Level;
Anti-Virus websites;Anti-Malware websites & Forums;Get Your Windows Back to Health;
Dangers & Solutions to EMF Radiation from Your Computer.




Daily Page

Dating

eBay
How To Make Money on eBay.


EnvironmentENVIRONMENT: NEWS,STRATEGIES,METHODS & COMPANIES THAT SAVE & PRESERVE THE ENVIRONMENT:MAKE MONEY & STOP GLOBAL WARMING !


Freebie Folder: Learn from the EXPERTS
Get these Free E-Books on Affiliate Marketing,
Pay-Per-Click Marketing and Search Engine Optimization

Finance: How To Make Money Online with FINANCE,INVESTMENTS MORTGAGES,INSURANCE:STRATEGIES, COMPANIES and TOOLS: InvestmentU.com,Robot Stock Picker


Health Nutrition: Health - Nutrition Information & Business Opportunities with Natural Products ,Cures & Weight Loss: Neways ,SFI Marketing Group,Native Remedies & DentalPlan;Stop Smoking,Linden Apiaries

Internet Business Articles

Home Based JOBS

Lawn Chair Millionaire

LanguagesArabic,Chinese,Dutch,French,German,Japanese,Korean
Portuguese,Russian,Spanish

FREE Music & Movies


News

Plug In Profit Site

PTC & PTR

Real Estate

Shopping


3 FREE eBooks & 1K+ Free Software


Business Resources

Internet Marketing

Scam Alerts & Performance Reviews

Social Networking

Success University


Technology


TRAVEL: discount travel,photography,airplane bookings,booking,Ukraine,Russia,travel Ukraine,travel Russia,hotels Ukraine,hotels Russia,tours Ukraine,photography Ukraine,maps Ukraine,transportation Ukraine,travel secrets,travel tips,European travel,TSA passenger security regulations,TSA passenger requirements,TSA security requirements,flight Ukraine

Book Travel

Boston,Mass.

Russia


Ukraine

Kiev,Ukraine

Become Travel Agent

Web Traffic

Web Success Forum

Webmaster Tools

Video Games

American Public Policy

Alliance For Democracy

Common Cause: Holding Power Accountable

STOP PUPPY MILLS


Sen.Barack Obama- Issues


Union of Concerned Scientists

PUBLIC CITIZEN