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Rep. Rick Nolan (D-MN)

Newly-elected Rep. Rick Nolan (D-MN) appeared on MSNBC today to explain his frustrations with the broken state of democracy in the United States. He told host Chuck Todd that he was told he needed to spend 30 hours each week fundraising instead of governing, and that this is one of the reasons we need to get money out of politics:

NOLAN: We’re told here, two things, one is the one with the most money gets the most vote, and number two, you should be spending 30 hours a week in fundraising and call time dialing for dollars.

TODD: Let me stop you there […] They want you to spend 30 hours a week making phones calls?

NOLAN: For money. And you know I’m not going to do that, I haven’t done that. I’m here to govern. But the fact is my last election contest years ago I think I spent $250,000. The total amount of money in my election contest this year was well over $20 million. You know, back when I was here before that was more than was spent in the presidential contest! We need to change the way we do politics. We need to take money out of politics, and Ai??the Congress needs to go back to work governing.

Watch it:

Want to help us pass badly needed reforms?Ai??Click here to join PCCCai??i??s Take Back Democracy campaign.

Some politicians want to raise the Medicare age, which would save little money for the government and be painful for seniors. In Politico this morning, progressive Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown (OH) flatly objected to the idea and castigated its proponents:

ai???That is such a Washington, Heritage Foundation construction,ai??? Brown said of raising the eligibility age.

Reminded that some of his own colleagues are open to it, he shot back: ai???Theyai??i??re wrong.ai???

And he wondered, speaking of both Democratic and Republican advocates of such reform, ai???Do they not ever talk to factory workers, construction workers, people that work in diners?ai???

Raising the Medicare age would cost seniors approximately $11.4 billion annually.

Click hereAi??to pledge to hold any Democrat who agrees to a deal that cuts Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits accountable.

Join PCCC’s Take Back Democracy campaign.

Iowa State SenatorAi??Jeff Danielson (D) has announced that he will soonAi??introduce bills to accomplish three important political reforms:

-A resolution that the General Assembly supports the repeal of Citizenai??i??s United, a U.S. Supreme Court decision that prohibited limitations on independent expenditures.
-A bill that requires full disclosure in campaigns.
-A measure that sets up a mechanism for public financing of political campaigns.

The Iowa Public Interest Research Group estimatesAi??that “96.21 percent of the money spent on Iowa House races came from groups registered outside the state. Those groups spent $8.3 million, and 36.6 percent of those dollars came from undisclosed donors.”

Want to help us pass badly needed reforms? Click here to join PCCC’s Take Back Democracy campaign.

Last week, New York governor Andrew Cuomo (D) declared a public health emergency in response to the flu epidemic, which has now seen cases in 47 states.

But despite this epidemic, one corporate front group is advocating for banning cities from enacting legislation guaranteeing paid sick days to employees.

The Florida Chamber of Commerce said Wednesday that one of its top legislative priorities this year would be blocking local governments from adopting paid sick-time measures such as the one pending in Orange County.

At a news conference inAi??Tallahassee, Chamber President Mark Wilson said his powerful business group wantsAi??a lawAi??that would ban cities and counties from creating varying paid-sick-leave rules across the state.

Advocates of a sick-leave ballot measure in Orange County — where the local council denied people the right to vote on such an effort this past election — blasted the Chamber’s move.

“It’s not surprising that the chamber wants to deny 50,000 people the right to vote on an issue that they can legally petition their government on,” said Stephanie Porta, executive director of Organize Now. “Just as the chamber will be counting votes on this disenfranchising bill, we will as well.”

Recall that the Florida Chamber is sponsored by some of the biggest corporate names in the state. Its board of trustees includes representatives from AT&T, Walt Disney, IBM, and others.

The National Rifle Association (NRA), the main gun lobby, has refused to consider any common sense gun reforms following several mass shootings. It has instead chosen to be the primary group working to block reforms.

But the NRA wasn’t always so extreme. In fact, for the majority of its 141 year history, the organization backed gun regulation and rarely if ever claimed that regulations were unconstitutional.

In 1934, the group’s president Karl T. Frederick testified in support of certain gun regulations that later made it into the National Firearms Act of 1934, one of the first federal gun laws. The law regulated “gangster weapons” used by organized crime, such as machine guns and short barrel shotguns.

During the testimony, Congressman Clemon T. Dickinson of Missouri asked Frederick if he thought anything being debated was unconstitutional. Although Frederick replied that he thought firearm regulation was a state issue, he also said he had not “given it any study from that point of view” that regulating guns may be unconstitutional.

Frederick also explained his view about practical gun ownership, one that would be heretical among NRA leadership today:

Ai??I have never believed in the general practice of carrying weapons. I seldom carry one. I have when I felt it was desirable to do so for my own protection. I know that applies in most of the instances where guns are used effectively in self-defense or in places of business and in the home. I do not believe in the general promiscuous toting of guns. I think it should be sharply restricted and only under licenses.

Frederick did caution against over-regulating weapons during his testimony, but as the transcript above demonstrates, did not oppose all new gun regulations.

The NRA also went on to support the Gun Control Act of 1968. In …

Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-KS)

This afternoon, President Obama unveiled a new package of gun reforms. Some of the far-right are already on the attack. Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-KS) issued a statement claiming Obama is showing “disdain” for the Second Amendment and instead said we must hold “Hollywood” accountable for gun violence:

“The Second Amendment is non-negotiable. The right to bear arms is a right, despite President Obama’s disdain for the Second Amendment and the Constitution’s limits on his power. Congress must stand firm for the entirety of the Constitution – even if, but particularly so, when President Obama seeks to ignore his obligation to ‘preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.’ Taking away the rights and abilities of law-abiding citizens to defend themselves is yet another display of the Obama Administration’s consolidation of power.”

“Washington and all of America must have a serious debate and honest discussion about what fuels a very small segment of the population to inflict harm and instill fear. This means holding Hollywood accountable for its culture of violence and death, and talking about mental health issues and the responsibilities of families and communities. Furthermore, Americans demand the Obama Administration enforce current laws. The latest information, according to Syracuse University, shows that federal weapons prosecutions are down dramatically – meaning that the Obama Administration is neglecting its obligation to enforce current law. Apparently public safety matters only when there’s political gain to be had. How can we expect them to act on new laws if they cannot even enforce the ones that currently exist?”

Sign our petition supporting Obama’s plan.

Rep. Steve Roth (R-TX)

Today, President Obama introduced a sweeping package of gun reforms to Congress. Before Obama ever unveiled his proposal, the far-right was reacting with radical counter-proposals. In Texas, one state representative introduced a bill that would mandate the arrest any federal employee who tried to implement a law restricting semi-automatic firearms or the size of gun magazines:

Meanwhile,Ai??1200 WOAI reportsAi??that in Texas, Republican state Rep. Steve Toth plans to introduce a bill that would make it illegal to enforce in the state any federal laws restricting semi-automatic firearms or the size of gun magazines.

Toth told 1200 WOAI that the bill would also call for felony charges to be brought against federal officials who attempt to enforce any such rules.

“If a federal official comes into the state of Texas to enforce the federal executive order, that person is subject to criminal prosecution,” Toth told 1200 WOAI.

The proposed bill is unconstitutional, as the Constitution mandates that federal law trumps that of states.
UPDATE: Mississippi’s Republican governor has now called for a similar measure.

Click here to sign our pledge to call Congress and the White House once a month until common-sense reforms are passed.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) response to the President’s gun violence prevention proposals just made:

“We applaud the White House plan to think big and take bold action against gun killings. The PCCC is all in for this fight, investing time and money in Republican and Democratic districts until Congress passes major gun legislation that includes an assault weapons ban.” –Ai??Stephanie Taylor, Co-Founder, PCCC

Click here to sign our pledge to call Congress and the White House once a month until common-sense reforms are passed.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)

A number of House and Senate Republicans have vowed to threaten the full faith and credit of the United States by holding the debt ceiling hostage unless they get cuts to Medicare and Social Security benefits.

In an interview with a local paper, Alaskan Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski vocally disagreed with her colleagues on this issue:

Murkowski, at a News-Miner editorial board meeting on Jan. 9, said she doesnai??i??t think the debt limit should be used for political leverage. Since borrowing will be required to pay off debts the country has already incurred, she said it would reflect badly on the U.S. to leave its willingness to pay those bills in doubt. […] Murkowski said not all of her colleagues in the Senate will say it out loud, but she believes most agree that failing to raise the debt limit would harm perception of the country. ai???If you incur an obligation, you have a responsibility to pay for that,ai??? Murkowski said.

As we noted earlier this month, 17 currently-seated Republican Senators and 76 currently-seated Republican House members have voted for clean debt ceiling increases in the past.

Click hereAi??to pledge to hold any Democrat who agrees to a deal that cuts Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits accountable.

Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA)

Today, the House of Representatives is debating and voting on additional aid for Hurricane Sandy victims. Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) — who had in the past said that global warming is a Ai??”hoax” — sponsored an amendment to cut funding for forecasting and storm modeling from the bill. Here’s how he justified his amendment:

BROUN: Ai??Our hearts go out to the victims who have suffered from the devastation of Hurricane Sandy. However, in the wake of large storms like this, governments’ knee-jerk reaction is often to throw money at forecasting or storm modeling in order to prevent widespread damage in the future. Unfortunately, even with the best imaginable system, forecasting systems, we would not have been able to prevent the structural damages which resulted from this particular storm. Yet here we are.

Watch it:

Although storm forecasting may not be able to prevent all structural damage, it can help save lives. “By improving our forecasts, we can alert the public, emergency managers, air carriers, utility companies and others sooner so they can prepare more effectively for significant storms, and save lives, property and money,” said National Center for Environmental Protection Chief Science Officer and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Corps Capt. Barry Choy in a recent press release.