Great Question for Republicans and America

A great question for Missouri Senator Roy Blunt, specifically.

When will Congress do the people's and nation's business?

Standard and Poor’s is warning that it may downgrade the United States’ credit rating -- again. After downgrading our national credit, the firm said they are not seeing “any good evidence that there is more cooperation between the two parties than there was in 2011, nor that the American policymaking system as a whole is any more effective, stable, and predictable than it was in 2011 based on the latest debate.” 

Click here to tell our lawmakers it is time to fix, not fight.

http://www.nolabels.org/blog/maybe-time-we-can-see-solution

Republican support for the wealthy---but not those pesky unemployed working class folks

From The Washington Post: A Republican plan to extend tax cuts for the rich would add more than $36 billion to the federal deficit next year -- and transfer the bulk of that cash into the pockets of the nation's millionaires, according to a congressional analysis released Wednesday. New data from the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation show that households earning more than $1 million a year would reap nearly $31 billion in tax breaks under the GOP plan in 2011, for an average tax cut per household of about $100,000. Nice. Very nice. They railed against extending unemployment benefits for the longest time ostensibly for "adding to the the deficit" and it wasn't nearly this large an amount of money. And they don't get the hypocrisy or disconnect. How is anyone--but the wealthy--supporting these people? Link to original post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/11/AR2010081105864_pf.html

We all need to know about this group and their work

I was just made aware of what is to me, a new organization and website that seems to do terrific work, showing what appears to be a direct and clear correlation between money elected officials receive and their voting records.

I know. Shocking, right?

But the fact is, they take raw, hard, reported data, put it in their computers and show direct paths from monetary contributions to our elected officials votes.

That's some great work.

Maybe, one day, with this kind of hard data, we can better get and keep control of our officials and government so the right and good things happen for the country, instead of just for corporations and the wealthy.

Hey, I can dream, can't I?

Molly Ivins would be pleased, rest her soul.

Anyway, the group is MAPLight and you can find them at MAPLight.org. (For what it's worth, I found it yesterday on The Huffington Post).

Knowledge being power, this is the kind of information we need so we can get back some power in this countr.

Following is from their site and tells of them and their work. Check it out.

Let's "follow the money", as the old saying goes, and hold and keep our representatives accountable to us.

Mission and Purpose

MAPLight.org, a groundbreaking public database, with offices located in Berkeley, California, illuminates the connection between campaign donations and legislative votes in unprecedented ways. Elected United States officials collect large sums of money to run their campaigns, and they often pay back campaign contributors with special access and favorable laws.

This common practice is contrary to the public interest, yet legal. MAPLight.org makes money/vote connections transparent, to help citizens hold their legislators accountable.

Nonprofit and Nonpartisan

MAPLight.org, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is nonpartisan. Contributions to MAPLight.org are tax-deductible as provided by law.

The Database
MAPLight.org combines three data sets:

•Bill texts and legislative voting records

•Supporting and opposing interests for each bill

•Campaign contribution data from the Center for Responsive Politics and the National

Institute on Money in State Politics

Combining this data makes visible key information that could never before be determined easily.