Republican-Controlled House Subcommittee Cuts NASA Funding – Last week, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives Commerce, Justice, and Science Subcommittee cut NASA’s funding to $16.8 billion last week, which is $1.6 billion below last year’s level, and $1.9 billion below what the Obama administration requested. The kicker is that this reigns in NASA funding to pre-2008 levels. The action reduces NASA’s space exploration and science budgets, and reduces NASA’s commercial spaceflight program by 37%. This is the program that would put American astronauts back into space on American rockets, possibly by 2014 if funding was maintained.
Reason for Downgrade of U.S. Credit Rating Was Republicans Not Wanting to Increase Revenues Says S&P – On Page 4 of the official Standard & Poor’s “Research Update” — the actual report on what they did and why — published on August 5th as the explanation for why they downgraded the U.S. credit rating, it states:
Under our revised base case fiscal scenario–which we consider to be consistent with a ‘AA+’ long-term rating and a negative outlook–we now project that net general government debt would rise from an estimated 74% of GDP by the end of 2011 to 79% in 2015 and 85% by 2021. Even the projected 2015 ratio of sovereign indebtedness is high in relation to those of peer credits and, as noted, would continue to rise under the act’s revised policy settings. Compared with previous projections, our revised base case scenario now assumes that the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, due to expire by the end of 2012, remain in place.
We have changed our assumption on this because the majority of Republicans in Congress continue to resist any measure that would raise revenues, a position we believe Congress reinforced by passing the act.
Texas May Put Confederate Flag on License Plates – The Sons of Confederate Veterans want to display the Confederate flag on Texas license plates. This conservative group proposed a Texas specialty license plate featuring the controversial and offensive image of the Confederate flag. They want to harken back to the days of conflict, civil war and racism that plagued America and the south. We need your help to stop this symbol of oppression from being put on cars across Texas.
The application to put this racist relic out for public consumption went before the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles board and stalled with a tied vote of 4 to 4 – the 9th board member Ramsay Gillman unexpectedly passed away before the vote. Rick Perry must now appoint a 9th member to the board who will be the deciding vote on this controversial issue. With all eyes on Perry’s political future, your voice makes a difference.
We can’t assume Rick Perry will do the right thing without your help. Gov. Rick Perry has a long history of promoting secession and pandering to the tea party. It is critical that we stand-up and demand he appoints a TXDMV board member who will not allow the Confederate flag license plate to move forward.
Don’t let Rick Perry embarrass Texas (more than he already has). Sign the petition at the above link.
Republican-Controlled House Representatives Causes 70,000 FAA Workers to Lose Their Jobs – On July 23 the FAA lost its authorization largely due to Republican House Representatives. The deauthorization resulted in 70,000 workers losing their jobs, as well as construction projects in 241 airports being halted. After much debate Democrats and Republicans have reached a compromise that with, for the time being, put people back to work.
The FAA crisis occurred when House Republicans fought to weaken the rights of transportation workers. When Democrats in the Senate opposed the change, the two parties reached a stand-still.
The shutdown has cost the government more than $300 million in lost taxes on airline tickets. Call on the Congress to prioritize American jobs, support transportation workers’ rights and end the FAA shutdown permanently.
Tea Party Blogger Supports Bullying of Gay Kids – Tea Party blogger Rich Swier recently said of anti-LGBT bullying: “it is peer pressure and it is healthy.” He went on to compare being gay to behaviors such as smoking, underage drinking, and drug abuse. Swier made these comments in response to a statement from the Florida-based Gulf Coast Gives, a group supporting civic enhancement projects in the Gulf region, which shared alarming anti-LGBT bullying statistics: “77% of all bullying victims are picked on due to sexual orientation, gender identity, or the perception of either.”
Regards,
Jim
Andy Hailey