Author Archive

Oil and Ice: The Risks of Drilling in Alaska’s Arctic Ocean

by , posted on Sunday, August 19th, 2012 at 6:55 pm

from the Center for American Progress

As offshore oil drilling edges ever closer to becoming a reality in the Arctic Ocean, the Center for American Progress examines the region’s lack of readiness in the event of a spill. The video highlights the concerns and challenges facing the Coast Guard charged with its protection, the grave doubts of the scientific community about the lack of knowledge in this area, and the perspectives of those who depend on the Arctic Ocean for their livelihood.

Share

IL-13 campaign ad: Every 12 Minutes

by , posted on Friday, August 17th, 2012 at 3:05 pm

from Friends of David Gill

“David Gill is an emergency room doctor in Bloomington, IL. He sees up close what happens to regular people every day when they don’t have good health insurance. We need someone like Dr. Gill to fight for us in Congress. Take a minute to watch this story he tells about a patient named Susan.”

Share

IL-13 campaign ad: Not a Penny from Wall Street

by , posted on Friday, August 17th, 2012 at 2:56 pm

from Friends of David Gill

“Dr. David Gill has never been on a public payroll or taken orders from a politician. He knows we need independent leaders in Congress who will fight for us. That’s why he doesn’t take one penny in his campaign from Wall Street or corporate political action committees. He just wants to work for us!”

Share

IL-13 campaign ad: Rodney’s Dirty Laundry

by , posted on Friday, August 17th, 2012 at 1:22 pm

from Friends of David Gill

“Republican insider Rodney Davis has spent 19 years on the taxpayer payroll taking orders from politicians like disgraced former Governor George Ryan and right-wing, Tea Party Congressman John Shimkus. Now, Rodney is running for Congress and he hopes we won’t pay any attention to his past as a campaign operative who helped come up with new schemes to launder money at the Illinois Republican Party.”

Share

Chicago Teachers Union vs. Astroturf Billionaires

by , posted on Thursday, August 16th, 2012 at 2:04 pm

from the Chicago Teachers Union

The Chicago Teachers Union is currently on the front lines of a fight to defend public education. On one side the 30,000 members of the CTU have called for a contract that includes fair compensation, meaningful job security for qualified teachers, smaller class sizes and a better school day with Art, Music, World Language and appropriate staffing levels to help our neediest students.

On the other side, the Chicago Board of Education—which is managed by out of town reformers and Broad Foundation hires with little or no Chicago public school experience—has pushed to add two weeks to the school year and 85 minutes to the school day, eliminate pay increases for seniority, evaluate teachers based on student test scores, and slash many other rights.

Teachers, parents and community supporters in Chicago have fought valiantly—marching, filling auditoriums at hearings and parent meetings, even occupying a school and taking over a school board meeting. Most recently, 98 percent of our members voted to authorize a strike. But now we find ourselves facing new opponents—national education privatizers, backed by some of the nation’s wealthiest people. They are running radio ads, increasing press attacks, and mounting a PR campaign to discredit the CTU and the benefits of public education.

Share

PDA IL–TIF Abuse: The Hyatt Hotel and Hyde Park Schools

by , posted on Thursday, August 16th, 2012 at 2:02 pm

from PDA-IL

PDA IL joins the Chicago Teachers Union, Chicago Teachers Solidarity Campaign, Gray Panthers, Northern Illinois Jobs for Justice, Unite Here and National Nurses United among other labor unions and Hyde Park community activists to protest against the use of property taxes going to fund the building of a new luxury hotel in Hyde Park while schools face millions of dollars in cuts.

Share

Bickerdike TIF Training

by , posted on Thursday, August 16th, 2012 at 2:00 pm

from the Grassroots Collaborative

Over 20 Bickerdike activists attend a training to learn about Tax Increment Financing (TIF) and how the inequality of TIF distribution is effecting our neighborhoods, schools, libraries, and parks.

August 7, 2012.

Share

MoveOn.org presidential campaign ad: Thank You For The Job, Mitt Romney!

by , posted on Thursday, August 16th, 2012 at 12:54 pm

from the MoveOn.org Political Action

Mitt Romney: Creating jobs since 1984 … in other countries.

Share

What a Single Payer Health Insurance Plan Looks Like

by , posted on Thursday, August 16th, 2012 at 8:41 am

from The Real News Network

Gerald Friedman (University of Massachusetts, Amherst): A single-payer plan in Maryland would cover everyone, improve outcomes and make business more competitive

Parts Two and Three follow after the jump.

(more…)

Share

The Need for Paid Sick Leave

by , posted on Wednesday, August 15th, 2012 at 8:36 pm

from the Center for American Progress

The United States is the only developed nation that does not guarantee paid sick leave for workers when they are ill, or when they need to miss work in order to take care of a sick family member. Sarah Jane Glynn, a Policy Analyst at the Center for American Progress, explains why there is a need for paid sick days, who benefits and why guaranteed paid sick days for workers is good for the economy.

Share