Whatta Crock, Corker

Today's Moral Hangover of the Day Award goes to Republican Sen. Bob Corker, the conservative lawmaker from Tennessee. Sen. Corker is the linchpin to coming up with a bipartisan agreement on new financial regulations. He's also the guy who fought to remove regulations aimed at predatory lenders, the so-called payday lenders, which make money by charging 400% interest on short-term, high interest loans aimed at low-income Americans and our military. The New York Times reports Corker, surprise, surprise, gets a lot of campaign dough from these neighborhood loan sharks, though he denies that influenced his decision to kill legislation that would regulate them.

The sign says it all

Let your member of Congress know how you feel.

Dear Roger:
In January, Big Oil was handed a gift that will help them try to fill Congress with their cronies. 

The Supreme Court has handed Big Oil a blank check to spend unlimited amounts on elections. We must fight back. Send an urgent message to your members of Congress today to demand action.

A disastrous Supreme Court ruling has removed any restrictions on how much money big corporations like ExxonMobil can spend to elect their friends and defeat our allies in Congress.
This means that profit-driven Big Polluters can now spend unlimited amounts on elections, drowning out the voices of the majority of Americans who support clean energy and a healthy environment.
Congress must rectify this issue right away. Will you contact your members of Congress to insist they pass legislation reinstating corporate spending limits on elections?
Click here to demand that Congress take swift action.
We know that Big Oil has deep pockets. Now, this ruling has allowed them to dig even deeper to influence elections, and destroy our clean energy future in the process.
Consider what kind of damage this ruling could cause: In the 2007-2008 election cycle, before this catastrophic Supreme Court ruling, ExxonMobil spent just $800,000 on election activities due to existing restrictions.  With these limits no longer in place, Exxon’s record-breaking profits could be tapped without restraint. If Exxon diverted just two percent of their $45 billion in 2008 profits to electoral activities, they could outspend the Obama and McCain campaigns combined.
We can’t let this stand.
Send an urgent message to your members of Congress right away.
This Supreme Court decision is part of the disastrous legacy of one of Big Oil’s best friends – George W. Bush. It was Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito, Bush-appointed justices, who were the key swing votes in this outrageous decision.
President Obama criticized this ruling in his State of the Union address, saying it would “open the floodgates for special interests” to spend without limits in our elections, and called on Congress to pass a bill that fixes this wrong-headed decision.
Please, take a minute to contact your members of Congress now.
After you take action, please spread the word. Thank you.
Sincerely,


Gene Karpinski
President
League of Conservation Voters

Even in economic bad times we need to plan for a future. We need High Speed Rail.

Reinventing the Midwest Economy

The Midwest has many ingredients for a strong economy: diverse resources, a well-educated work force, a powerful higher-education network, and major hub airports offering non-stop service to business centers worldwide.

Yet the Midwestern economy is failing to achieve its potential. Our cities and towns are too far apart to function together as an efficient economic unit. Drive times are too long and airfares are too high.

Only high-speed trains can draw our cities into commuting distance, transforming the entire Midwestern into a virtual metropolis with more dynamic cities and rural towns, with quick connections to worldwide markets.

Richard Longworth's book, Caught in the Middle, does an excellent job of explaining the economic challenges faced by Midwestern cities.

Click here to let Michigan's leaders know you support High Speed Rail. 

You know when I think about it if Texas leaves the country we should make them take Oklahoma

The conservatives in the Oklahoma legislature are melting down as two right-wing principles are clashing in piece of legislation meant to address the state's ginormous divorce rate. Oklahoma has the highest church attendance in the country and the whole "family values" thing is big during campaign season, but the Oklahoma has the third-highest divorce rate in the nation. Some conservatives are going the family values route and want to pass a law requiring couples who want to get married to attend mandatory counseling and forcing a certain number of therapy sessions for couples wanting to divorce. On the other hand, you have the conservatives who don't want government meddling in their personal lives, like whether or not they have to see a counselor with their wives, for example. One conservative actually asked without irony, "How far do I want government to come into my home and your home about private personal matters?" leading pro-choice women and gay couples everywhere saying...exactly.