Levellers

Faith & Social Justice: In the spirit of Richard Overton and the 17th C. Levellers

What Did Pelosi Know & When Did She Know It?

Well, now we know why Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) took Bush/Cheney impeachment “off the table” as soon as Democrats won back controll of Congress in November ’06, before she even assumed her post as Speaker in  January ’07. It appears she may have been complicit in some of the violations of the Constitution (at least regarding spying on the U.S. public) conducted by this administration.  If that’s true, it is not only Bush, Cheney and henchmen who need to be impeached, but Pelosi and any other Congressional Democrats complicit in Constitutional violations, too.

Will we be like those Germans who meekly watched while Hitler trampled their constitution and prepared to commit  atrocities? Will we surrender our democracy to an elected monarchy (in which Congress is just a “privy council” to the president) or will we, like the citizens of Ukraine, Georgia, Burma, and so many other places rise up in nonviolent defense of democracy and human rights?  History will judge us harshly if we are silent.

Call the Congressional Switchboard and ask for Speaker Pelosi’s Office, then use the same number to contact your Representative–and demand an end to warrantless wiretapping and an investigation into Pelosi’s role:  202-224-3121.

October 16, 2007 Posted by | human rights., U.S. politics | 5 Comments

Environmental Defense: Climate Action in Congress This Year!

Environmental Defense is convinced that it can get a strong Climate Action vote through both the House and the Senate this year and have it on the president’s desk before the primaries get into full swing in ’08.  In this video, Elizabeth Thompson, Environmental Defense’s Legislative Director, lays out the principles for a strong, effective bill on global warming:

  • It must have hard caps on carbon emissions. Not goals, not vague aspirations, but real caps, with strong enforcement mechanisms. We must also ensure that all forms of global warming pollution are covered.
  • A strong bill must have both a short-term and long-term frame. Although the problem will be with us for a long time and we must plan accordingly, we must take aggressive action NOW to avoid the worst ecological disasters.
  • We must foster market competition for alternative fuels, alternative energies, for the next generation. That competition will ensure stronger solutions, faster.

An explanation of how a “cap and trade” system (which worked very well in cutting acid rain and ozone depletion) would combine strong government action with market principles to simultaneously promote energy security, combat global warming, and stimulate green economic growth is found in a video at this link.  But such a system only works with hard caps, not vague “goals” such as Pres. George W. Bush favors.  (When you watch the cap and trade video, be sure to note the assessment of what we are really paying at the gas pump:  when one adds the price at the pump to the cost in military action to secure oil for the U.S., the real price is at least $7-8 per gallon! That will only increase unless we break our oil addiction when one combines the problems of peak oil, huge competition for the same oil resources from China and India, increasing instability in oil producing regions, etc.)

U.S. citizens should take action now by contacting Congress and insisting on a strong climate bill this year.  Then contact your friends and urge them to take action, too.  To donate to Operation Climate Vote, click here.

October 16, 2007 Posted by | ecology | 1 Comment

   

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