Wednesday, March 01, 2017

Latest Fund Raising by Organizing for Action (Barack Obama) and Democratic National Committee DNC

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DemocratsJoin us.
Make sure Republicans know they can't hide from their constituents. Add your name to tell the GOP to protect affordable health care, not repeal it:


Jim --

Yesterday, at Sen. Tom Cotton's town hall in Bentonville, Arkansas, one of Cotton's constituents asked anyone in the crowd who was affected by the Affordable Care Act to stand up.

Here's what happened:


The GOP's plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act will affect us all. We have to do everything we can to protect our health care.

Scenes like this one are happening all across the country, but Trump and some Republican members of Congress are trying to dismiss them as the work of paid protestors.

That's just absurd.

Another woman came to Cotton's town hall to ask what he'd do to help her husband, who currently only pays $29 a month for health insurance under the ACA. She told him that she lives just down the road from his district office. She wasn't a paid protestor.

The man who showed up at Sen. Chuck Grassley's town hall in Iowa Falls and explained how he wouldn't be able to afford insurance at all if it wasn't for Obamacare wasn't a paid protestor.

One woman in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky told Sen. Mitch McConnell that if he could answer her questions about how unemployed coal miners and veterans would be able to afford health care, she'd "sit down and shut up like Elizabeth Warren." She wasn't a paid protestor.

Republicans know that the more they talk about their plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the more popular the ACA gets. They'd rather dismiss their constituents or even cancel town hall meetings altogether than look them in the eye and admit that they've spent the last seven years trying to take health care away from millions of Americans.

Let's make sure they know there's nowhere to hide. Click here and join the 308,961 grassroots Democrats who have called on Congress to protect the Affordable Care Act. Even if your Republican representatives aren't holding town halls (or if you're fortunate enough to be represented in Congress by Democrats who will fight for your health care), you can still make your voice heard:


Thanks,

Eric

Eric Walker
Deputy Communications Director
Democratic National Committee
 ---------------------------------------------------

To
Today at 5:21 PM
Organizing for Action
Jim --

It's here. The Senate is on the verge of permanently eliminating our ability to prevent wasteful methane leaks from oil and gas wells on our public lands. They're about to strip away the protections the Obama administration put into place to cut climate pollution and protect public health. And they're doing it through the radical and rare Congressional Review Act, or CRA. 

It's part of Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, and the new administration's extreme agenda. These special interest giveaways might be popular with their polluter allies, but permanently eliminating rules against pollution and corruption, as well as ones that defend our health and safety, don't make any sense in the real world. 

So far, Congress has passed three CRA resolutions: 

-- One that would allow oil and mining companies to make secret payments to foreign governments -- a recipe for influence-buying and corruption.

-- Another that would permit the purchase of guns by people whose mental health, according to the Social Security Administration, impairs them from managing their affairs.

-- A third that allows coal companies to literally bury mountain streams with mine waste.

Pro-corruption, anti-safety, and anti-environment. In what world are those the priorities our Congress should be focused on? Say you won't stand for it.

Congress should focus on America's real priorities: creating an economy that works for more people, providing great health care and a great education to all Americans, and fighting the dangerous climate change that threatens our kids and communities. Those are all good places to start. 

Did I mention that repealing this methane rule would waste $330 million a year -- revenue that's just burned or leaked away -- that could pay for some of these priorities?

Ninety-seven percent of climate scientists agree that climate change is real and caused by human activities like the very same methane pollution this rule will sanction. That's not an alternative fact -- that is stone-cold reality.

The evidence is right in front of us, and members of Congress would see it too if they'd look out the windows of their fancy offices for one second. Each of the past three years has been record-hot -- it was almost 100 degrees in Oklahoma earlier this month. Our most populous state is flooding in the wettest winter ever recorded, right on the heels of a devastating five-year drought -- and scientists have been predicting for decades that more extreme weather like droughts and floods would come hand-in-hand with climate change.

These congressional leaders need to wake up and get their priorities straight. And we're going to hold their feet to the fire until they do. They're starting to feel the heat on Obamacare, and believe me, that won't be the end of it.

Our voices will be heard.

Add yours.


Add your name
Thanks,

Jack

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To
Jim
Feb 27 at 6:29 PM
DemocratsJoin us.
Pitch in $3 or whatever you can to help us reach our new 60,000 donation goal before tomorrow's deadline:


Senators and representatives are back in Washington this week, Jim. Did you see your Republican member of Congress while they were at home? 

There's a good chance that the answer is no, because most Republicans spent the past week dodging constituents who want to protect affordable health care and hold the Trump administration accountable. 

Case in point: 

Instead of meeting with North Carolinians, Sen. Thom Tillis visited Texas in search of an excuse to pay for Trump's wall. 

When one of Sen. Marco Rubio's constituents confronted his senator to ask him to host another town hall, Rubio ran away -- and then hopped on a plane to Europe. 

Nevada Sen. Dean Heller said he'd only hold a town hall if there was "no applauding and no booing." (Yes, that's a sitting U.S. Senator who's afraid of a little bit of clapping.) 

And then there's Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert. He had the audacity to use the shooting of Gabby Giffords to justify skipping in-person town halls. Her response, to him and the rest of the GOP: "Have some courage." 

Republicans think they can dodge their constituents without facing any consequences. Let's send them a message they can't ignore: 60,000 donations this month to elect Democrats. 

Before tomorrow's deadline, pitch in $3 or more to help us hit our goal. 

If you've saved your payment information, your donation will go through immediately.

QUICK DONATE: $3
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Or donate another amount.
Thanks for stepping up,

Eric

Eric Walker
Deputy Communications Director
Democratic National Committee

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To
Jim
Today at 3:00 PM

Pitch in before midnight tonight to help us reach our 60,000 donation goal:


Jim --

There's no honeymoon period when it comes to getting our party recharged and ready for our fights ahead.

I'm still learning names and figuring out where the best coffee in DNC HQ is, but before I get settled, I need to ask for your help.Can you help us hit our goal of 60,000 grassroots donations before our end-of-month deadline tonight so we're ready to hit the ground running?

I've spent the last few months on a listening tour and at DNC Future Forums all across the country where Democrats have made their voices heard about what we want and need to see from this party moving forward. We only succeed when we have a real presence in every state and territory, and elect people from the school board to the Senate who share our values.

Keith Ellison and I and the rest of the newly elected officers of the Democratic National Committee are fired up and ready to take on Trump and the GOP by communicating our values loud and clear and investing in Democrats from the grassroots on up.

But we need your help, Jim. Can you pitch in $3 or whatever you can today to help us start this new chapter off strong?

If you've saved your payment information, your donation will go through immediately.

QUICK DONATE: $3
QUICK DONATE: $10
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QUICK DONATE: $50
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Or donate another amount.
Thanks, and let's get to work!

Tom

Tom Perez
Chair
Democratic National Committee


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To
Jim
Feb 28 at 5:46 PM
DemocratsJoin us.
Pitch in before midnight tonight to help us reach our 60,000 donation goal:


I've never had any doubt in my mind about what it means to be a Democrat, Jim.

We're the party of everyday people in every zip code and from every background. We stand with working people who deserve a living wage. We fight to protect health care as a right that is guaranteed to every American. We demand that corporations and the wealthy pay their fair share.

But although our ideas are right and our values are just, we didn't motivate enough people to get to the polls in 2016. And because of that, our party suffered some heartbreaking defeats.

Today, that all changes. We're on the path back to standing up for every single American.

It's going to take all of us coming together to take back our country, Jim -- that's why I was proud to stand with Tom Perez and accept the job of Deputy Chair of the Democratic Party. If you're with us, pitch in $3 or more before midnight tonight to show you're ready to rebuild.

Our pledge to you is that the Democratic Party will leave no stone unturned. We're going to organize in all 50 states, all 3,143 counties. We will compete for every vote and give every Democratic voter a reason to show up at the ballot box.

Together, we're going to win back school boards, state legislatures, and Congress. And we'll beat Trump and take back the White House.

Tom and I know we can do it, Jim, because we've both seen what Democrats can accomplish when we work together towards a common goal.

But we don't have a person to spare or a moment to waste, so I need you to have some skin in the game. We're looking for 60,000 grassroots donations before the February deadline at midnight. Chip in $3 or more before then to help Democrats get ready for the fights ahead.

If you've saved your payment information, your donation will go through immediately.

QUICK DONATE: $3
QUICK DONATE: $10
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QUICK DONATE: $50
QUICK DONATE: $100
Or donate another amount.
Thanks -- now let's get to work. 

Keith

Keith Ellison
Deputy Chair
Democratic National Committee
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To
Jim
Today at 12:41 AM
Pitch in whatever you can to show the GOP we're ready to fight back.


Jim --

Real leaders don't spread derision and division -- they build partnerships and offer solutions instead of ideology and blame.

And they make improving people's lives their highest priority.

That's the message I delivered in response to Donald Trump's address to Congress tonight.

We heard throughout his campaign as he promised that making life better for the working men and women of this country would be his priority. The only problem is the GOP's agenda is fundamentally at odds with the best interests of those Americans.

I'm proud to be a Democrat because I know that when our party is firing on all cylinders, we have what it takes to help people in big, meaningful ways. Our policies and our priorities are the ones that make a difference in the lives of the greatest number of people in this country -- not just the 1% who stand to benefit from Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, and Paul Ryan's plans.

As Democrats, our job is to make that case. Jim, can I count on you to help us do it?

When I was governor of the red state of Kentucky, I saw firsthand the disconnect between what people think Democrats stand for in Washington and the good work we were doing on the ground. My state had some of the most unhealthy people in this country for as long as they have been keeping rankings. We needed a big solution. Lo and behold, the Affordable Care Act came along, and I saw it as our one chance to make a big difference in people's futures.

Kentucky is not a rich state, and I was worried if we could afford to do it. I found out that we couldn't afford not to do it. Independent, third-party projections showed that over the next eight years, it would infuse $15 billion into our state's economy, create 17,000 new jobs, and have a positive impact on our budget.

I would tell many skeptical Kentuckians, "Look, you don't have to like the president, and you don't have to like me -- because this is not about him or me. It's about you. It's about your family. It's about your kids." We showed how it would help us economically. How if we had a healthy workforce, we could have a productive workforce.

In the first 18 months, we had almost half a million people sign up for coverage -- many of whom were getting health care for the first time in their lives. We saw one of the largest drops in the uninsured rate in the country, from 20 to 7.5 percent. And a study of the first year of expanded Medicaid showed a positive economic impact on Kentucky's economy and state budget that was even higher than anticipated.

My successor in office was a Republican who ran and won on the promise of ripping up Obamacare on day one. But we saw in Kentucky that when repeal rhetoric meets repeal reality -- reality wins. Rather than killing a policy that was working for so many, Governor Bevin instead made alterations with some conservative window dressing while leaving core elements and benefits in place. Just like a governor named Mike Pence did in Indiana. But the ACA is still under attack, and families are still at risk.

American families desperately need our president to put his full attention on creating opportunity and good-paying jobs and preserving their right to affordable health care and a quality education. It's up to Democrats to keep making our case and keep that pressure on.

Pitch in $3 or more tonight to help our party take this fight to all 50 states -- and win it.

If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately.

QUICK DONATE: $3
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Thanks,

Steve Beshear


CBS News Poll: Viewers Call Trump’s Speech To Congress ‘Presidential’ And ‘Unifying’

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CBS News

CBS News Poll: Viewers Call Trump’s Speech To Congress ‘Presidential’ And ‘Unifying’

 

March 1, 2017 12:10 PM

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) — Viewers across the country strongly approved of President Donald Trump’s first address to Congress Tuesday night, with many Democrats joining Republicans in calling it “presidential,” according to a new CBS News poll.

The poll found that 82 percent of total speech watchers said Trump’s address was “presidential” while 71 percent called it “unifying.”
When broken down, the poll found 97 percent of Republicans, 54 percent of Democrats and 88 percent of Independents say Trump came across as “presidential” in his speech.

Half of Democrats did find the speech “divisive” but about one-third of them also said Trump was “specific” and “knowledgeable,” according to the poll.

Eighty-seven percent of Republicans, 19 percent of Democrats and 66 percent of Independents found the president’s tone to be “very positive” while 18 percent of Democrats and 87 percent of Republicans “strongly approved” of the president’s message.
The president also saw double digit gains in approval of his views on terrorism, Obamacare, crime, the economy and immigration, the poll found.
Wednesday morning, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer appeared less than impressed with what he called dissonance between the president’s words and actions.

“This is another one of his speeches,” he said. “He talks like a populist but he is governing from the far right.”

But Vice President Mike Pence said the country saw the president’s true colors.
“President Trump is someone who leads by collaboration,” Pence said. “He brings people together and last night he really challenged the Congress to come together to solve these intractable problems that frankly, we’ve ignored for decades.”
Meanwhile, Twitter says some 3 million tweets were sent about Trump’s speech Tuesday night. The numbers make it the most tweeted speech by a president to Congress in the relatively short history of the platform.
The previous mark was 2.6 million tweets.

The top tweeted moment was the Republican’s call to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. That was followed by Trump’s salute to Carryn Owens, the widow of Senior Chief William “Ryan” Owens, who was killed last month in Yemen.

Google says the top trending question users asked during the night was “who wrote Donald Trump’s speech?” People also wanted to know how tall the president is and whether he’s a Democrat or a Republican.
The CBS News poll was conducted immediately after the conclusion of the President’s Address to Congress by re-contacting a scientifically sampled panel of Americans who had first been interviewed in the days leading up to the speech, and had stated that they planned to watch. A total of 857 speech watchers were interviewed. The margin of error for the total sample is 4.2 points.


(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

News Headlines on Trump speech to Congress

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CBS News

Politics

Viewers stunned by Trump address to Congress

CBS News 7 hours ago 

Markets are soaring after Trump’s speech, which is no surprise

Yahoo FinanceMarch 1, 2017


WashingtonTimes

Politics

Voters to Democrats: Cooperate with Trump

Published March 1, 2017

  - The Washington Times - Tuesday, February 28, 2017

The “i word” — impeachment — has already surfaced in the Democratic dialogue as the party rails against PresidentTrump, its noisy message amplified by the mainstream media. In the words of Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez, everybody is “fired up.”
Perhaps they are under the impression that the nation will stand back in awe and admiration of their combative tone and vigorous outreach. That may not be the case, however. Many voters are weary of political gridlock and discord.

“Most voters agree that it’s bad for America and bad for the Democratic Party if Democrats continue to flat out oppose everything President Trump does. Even Democrats are conflicted about their party’s scorched earth policy,” says a new Rasmussen Reports poll.
According to the poll, 63 percent of all likely voters say it’s better for the country if Democrats try to work with the president instead, while 29 percent think it’s better for the country if Democrats “oppose the president in every way possible.”

Naturally, 90 percent of voters who support Mr. Trump say the Democrats should be more cooperative. But a surprising 46 percent of the Democrats themselves agree with this, a sentiment that is on the rise. A similar poll conducted shortly after the November election found that 32 percent of Democrats favored cooperation.

Perhaps the party itself could use a little quiet time. The survey also found that 63 percent of all voters say the Democratic Party will be “better off” if they cooperate with the opposition; a surprising 45 percent of Democrats also agree.


Fox News

I'm a Democrat and It's Time for Our Party to Apologize to America

Published March 1, 2017
By Bryan Dean Wright 
Published March 1, 2017  FoxNews.com
Now that President Trump has delivered his State of the Union-style address, my fellow Democrats are settling in for a long fight. Our new DNC Chairman Tom Perez is leading the charge, promising to be a “nightmare” for the president and his fellow Republicans.
The reason is clear: Mr. Perez tastes political blood in the water. Trump’s approval rating is at historic lows, hammered by allegations of Russian collusion, a contentious immigration ban, and emotional Twitter outbursts.
Yet smart Democrats know that our position with the American people is just as weak. We hold the fewest number of state legislatures, governorships, and federal offices than at any point since the 1920s. And it’s a trend that started well before the 2016 election.
In short, America isn’t buying what Democrats are selling.
The reasons for this are numerous, and they include efforts by Republicans to suppress voters in North Carolina and gerrymander Congressional districts in Wisconsin.
But finger pointing at GOP operatives hides a much more painful truth.
Six weeks ago, the U.S. Senate considered an amendment that would have allowed Americans to import cheap prescription drugs from Canada. This common sense solution would have saved families thousands of dollars – and lives. Not surprisingly, 72 percent of voters supported the proposal.
Yet the amendment failed, with 14 Democratic Senators rejecting it.
What could explain their vote? Cynics highlight the fact that many of these officials collect large sums of campaign cash from pharmaceutical giants. Top collectors of drug money include Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), all of whom voted against the bill. 


The Federalist

Politics

Rebuttal To Trump's Speech Is Everything Wrong With Democratic Party

The Federalist 8 hours ago 
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Monday, February 27, 2017

The Oscar Recap - Oscar Blew it! - Coltons Point Times picks 17 of 24 winners! Oops Fake News just changed the Movie of the Year - the Games continue!

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In case you missed the Big Show the Coltons Point Times picked 17 of the 24 winners of the 89th Academy Awards.  I thought a 71% winning record was pretty good but after the La La Land crew went on stage and accepted the Best Picture Oscar the Academy belatedly interrupted the celebration by La La Land people and said La La Land did not win, but Moonlight won.


Was the Academy getting into the Fake News game with the wrong winner being announced, and did it have anything to do with the attacks on the Academy before last years Oscars of ignoring minorities?  While Moonlight was certainly good, there is something very suspicious about this kind of a major blunder in one of the most watched shows of the year and the most respected award show in the past.


Maybe it is time to drop the award shows since they all seem to be embroiled in politics and have lost their way as an entertainment medium.  I do not know of anyone who pays to see shows because of the politics of the actors and actresses and they seem to think being on the big screen acting gives them the right to act like the news media.


The choice between the two shows boiled down to Moonlight, a movie about growing up poor, Black and gay, or La La Land, "a musical with big numbers, intimate reveries and adult feelings, “La La Land” is a boy-meets-girl tale with early 21st-century rhythms (mostly good, even if its white stars are nestled, more self-consciously than naturally, in a multicultural world)" as Manohla Dargisn of The New York Times described it.


Box Office Receipts - La La Land $141 million - Moonlight $22.2 million


How about we let the public decide?  La La Land has earned nearly $141 million in domestic box office sales to date while Moonlight has earned $22.2 million.  I guess having six and a half times more receipts means nothing in terms of movie popularity.


Maybe Fake News is now here to stay and polarizing politics will destroy the movie industry as it did the news industry.  In the end it is the American public being played and that is not right!  Here is what other media had to say about the Oscar disaster.


Oscars Blows It: Gives Best Picture To Wrong Film; Chaos On Stage As ‘Moonlight’ Wins

16 minutes ago | Deadline | See recent Deadline news »
Moonlight won Best Picture after a complete mix-up on the stage in which Faye Dunaway read the wrong winner. It was thought that La La Land won to walk away with seven wins from its record-tying 14 nominations and producers Jordan Horowitz and Marc Platt even gave acceptance speeches before the mistake was discovered. It was a major upset for the top award of the night. Moonlight had gathered two awards — Best Supporting Actor for Mahershala Ali and Adapted Screenplay and… »
Permalink | Report a problem


Newswire: What the hell just happened?

19 minutes ago | avclub.com | See recent The AV Club news »
The Oscars made history tonight, though not exactly the kind of history it wanted to make. As Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway came out to present Best Picture, Beatty opened the envelope and took a lengthy pause before reading the winner—a pause that many, including Dunaway, took for some kind of tension-building/feeble old man shtick. And when he read the winner as La La Land, no one believed anything was amiss. Of course it was La La Land. This whole awards season, the narrative has been La La Land’s inevitable victory. And so, as the producers, cast, and crew came on stage to begin their well-rehearsed acceptance speeches, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
But then Warren Beatty popped back in—always with the Warren Beatty—and suddenly it was evident something had gone very wrong.
“This is not a joke,” said producer Jordan Horowitz. “Moonlight, you »
- Sean O'Neal
Permalink | Report a problem

Oscars 2017 live: Beatty and Dunaway announce wrong best picture winner for La La Land – Moonlight wins

Follow the latest news from this year’s Academy Awards, with updates from the Hollywood ceremony, the acceptance speeches, red carpet hits and misses, and awards announcements for the best films, actors and actresses
Oscar winners 2017: the full list
Oscars red carpet 2017 – in pictures
5.28am GMT
Related: Moonlight wins best picture Oscar – after Warren Beatty reads out La La Land
5.27am GMT
As fantastic as it was to see Moonlight win, those poor La La Land guys who found out mid-speech that the win wasn’t theirs. They’re still dealing with that:
Heads are gonna roll. You couldn't have a worse possible f-up if you tried. Team Lll still consoling each other in theater. pic.twitter.com/UUr6dlKF9S
Continue reading »
- Benjamin Lee, Hannah Marriott and Ellie Violet Bramley
Permalink | Report a problem

Oscars 2017: The 21 Best, Worst and Most Uncomfortable Moments

23 minutes ago | TVLine.com | See recent TVLine.com news »
Denzel Washington officiating a wedding. Seth Rogen breaking into an impromptu Hamilton performance. Oh, and La La Land incorrectly being named Best Picture. Those were just a few of the truly bizarre things that took place at the 89th Annual Academy Awards.
VideosOscars: Jimmy Kimmel Shreds Trump, Mel Gibson in Monologue — Grade It!
Late-night funnyman Jimmy Kimmel managed to do a decent job as Oscars host — which, if you haven’t repressed all memories of James Franco and Anne Hathaway’s 2011 hosting stint, you’ll know is no small feat. Sure, we could’ve done without his tired banter with frenemy Matt Damon, »
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'Moonlight' wins best picture at dramatic Oscars 2017


In a shock finale to Sunday’s 89th Academy Awards, the drama was named best picture moments after La La Landhad been declared the winner in error.


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