Fair Elections Now Act Gaining Momentum, Say Advocates

By Linn Grubbstrom - Talk Radio News Service

The Fair Elections Now Act, legislation that allows candidates running for political office to receive public funds and solicit small donations, is gaining considerable support in Congress, according to David Donnelly, the National Campaigns Director with the Public Campaign Action Fund.

“The legislation at this point has 157 co-sponsors in the House and strong bipartisan leadership from Rep. John Larsen (D-Conn.) and Walter Jones (R-N.C.),” Donnelly said during a conference call with fair election advocates Thursday. “We believe that we will win a House vote by the end of this session.”

According to Celinda Lake, a political strategist who joined Donnelly on Thursday’s call, a majority of undecided and independent voters also support the bill.

The legislation would match money raised via small donations with public funds. The advocacy organizations Common Cause and Public Campaign are staging the Campaign for Fair Elections, a multimillion dollar push to promote the legislation.

The Senate Rebuilds Pakistan

By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico - Talk Radio News Service

Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.)
Photo by Michael Ruhl

In the next 5 years, the Pakistani infrastructure will be fortified by almost $10 billion American dollars, if Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) have anything to say about it. The aptly titled Kerry-Lugar Bill will provided money for rebuilding the lives of civilians in war torn Pakistan.

Both Kerry and Lugar said that most of the money that has been funneled into Pakistan in the past few years has gone towards security. The aim of this bill is to shift the balance, to place more of an emphasis on infrastructure.

The Senators want to use the money for building schools, improving health care, building bridges, water projects, and other elements of infrastructure. Kerry said that the target projects are “things that would improve life and give people a sense of progress” to civilians.

The money would also be used for ensuring an independent media, expanding human rights and the rule of law, expanding transparency in government, rooting out political corruption and countering the drug trade.

Additionally military funding would be conditioned upon several things, including Pakistani security forces preventing al Qaeda and Taliban forces from operating in Pakistan. The military forces would not be able to interfere in politics or in the judicial process, according to the provisions of the bill.

The legislation bill would give $1.5 billion each year from FY 2009-2013, and would recommend similar amounts of money over the subsequent five years. There would be required benchmarks to measuring how effective the funding is, and the President will have to submit semi-annual reports to Congress about progress made.

Bi-partisan Bill Gives Obama More Power Over Iran Sanctions

By Kayleigh Harvey - Talk Radio News Service

Liberals and Conservatives stood together at a Senate press conference today to discuss the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act.

Senator Evan Bayh (R-Ind.) author of the bill, along with Senators Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Senator Jon Kyl (D-Ind.), said that bi-partisanship had been achieved on this bill because of the “critical importance of this issue.”

The purpose of the legislation, which expands on the Iran Sanction of 1996, Lieberman said is, “to empower President Obama...by providing him with the explicit authority to target Iran’s achilles economic heel, which is its dependence on imports of petroleum...most notably gasoline.”

Lieberman accused previous legislation of being “quite ambiguous” and said that this legislation would “eliminate” that ambiguity. The new proposal would provide the President with a “powerful new weapon to use in the negotiations with Iran,” said Lieberman. Adding it is up to President Obama to decide, “when, where and against whom to use it.”

Bayh said the bill would help to “strengthen the President’s outreach” to Iran. Adding “if events continue go as they are currently going, then at some point during the next two to four years Iran will have a nuclear weapon”. This would have a “destabilizing” effect on the entire world,” said Bayh. This bill, he said, “gives us our best opportunity to avoid that outcome without the resort to military force.”

Kyl said the bill gives the President the tool to “stop companies who continue to sell refined gasoline to Iran or provide refining capacity from doing business in the United States or through the American banking systems.”

“In effect what we are saying to the few companies in the world who provide this refined gasoline to Iran is, ‘You can either do business in our $13 trillion economy with us, or you can do business with Iran with its $250 billion economy, but you can’t do both,’” said Kyl.

In closing Lieberman said, “this is important legislation introduced at a critical time whose consequences for the people of America, Iran, Israel and the Arab world are going to be quite serious.” Adding that he hoped this bill would make it “more likely” for the “diplomatic engagements” between President Obama and the Irani government to succeed and that “they will peacefully abandon their nuclear ambitions.”

Twenty-five U.S. Senators, from both parties, have currently signed their name as a co-sponsors to this piece of legislation.

Pelosi and Representatives Release Draft Of Clean Energy Act

by Christina Lovato, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service

This afternoon Speaker Nancy Pelosi along with Congressmen Henry Waxman (D-CA), and Ed Markey (D-Mass.), released a draft of comprehensive energy legislation, known as the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009.

Speaker Pelosi says the act will create jobs, help end our dangerous dependence on foreign oil, and combat global warming.

“We have an obligation to future generations to preserve this planet and a moral obligation to preserve it as God’s creation,” said Pelosi.

Speaker Pelosi said today that the climate crisis we are facing is not only an environmental health issue, but that it is a national security issue and a moral issue.

“Energy independence and fighting climate change are flagship issues for this Congress. It will also be the impetus for new jobs and a new economic revival for our country,” said Pelosi.

Rep. Markey said that we need to look at this legislation as a good opportunity and if it gets passed it can create 3 to 5 million jobs all across the country.

“The planet is running a fever but there are no emergency rooms or plans so we have to act in a preventative way.”

Rep. Waxman said that Congress has a unique historic opportunity to pass legislation that will make our country more energy independent so that we can protect our national security.

Waxman said “This legislation will try to avert the terrible consequences of global warming.... legislation that will renovate and transform our economy for many many new jobs to give our people the jobs they need to get out of this recession/depression.”

Roger Johnson, the National Farmers Union President said that the union wants to be sure to play a constructive role with this legislation and said that there are already 3600 members doing innovative, and advanced agricultural practices to reduce greenhouse gases.

“Earth Day is something farmers celebrate every day of the year as we work the Earth and we want to make sure that it continues to be protected,” said Johnson.

The bill is expected to pass in the Full Energy and Commerce Committee on Energy before the Memorial Day recess at the end of May.

“On this Earth Day we commit ourselves, not just ourselves, but our nation, to protecting our planet, creating jobs for our workers and by passing clean energy legislation,” concluded Pelosi.

Sending people to Mars won't help cut the deficit

by Suzia van Swol and Candyce Torres, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service
After the President's Address to Congress, Congressman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) says that he thinks it is possible to cut the deficit in half if, "you stop this cold war defense weapons spending, and you curtail very expensive sending people to Mars, you cut back on excessive agriculture spending as he said, and you let taxes on the wealthiest people go back to where they were under Bill Clinton when the economy prospered, that you can do this." (0:29)