Three Charts To Email To Your Right-Wing Brother-In-Law | Campaign for America's Future - OurFuture.org

Problem: Your right-wing brother-in-law is plugged into the FOX-Limbaugh lie machine, and keeps sending you emails about "Obama spending" and "Obama deficits" and how the "Stimulus" just made things worse. Solution: Here are three "reality-based" charts to send to him. These charts show what actually happened.

Spending

Government spending increased dramatically under Bush. It has not increased much under Obama. Note that this chart does not reflect any spending cuts resulting from deficit-cutting deals.

Deficits

Notes, this chart includes Clinton's last budget year for comparison.

The numbers in these two charts come from Budget of the United States Government: Historical Tables Fiscal Year 2012. They are just the amounts that the government spent and borrowed, period. Anyone can go look them up. People who claim that Obama "tripled the deficit" are either misled or are trying to mislead.

The Stimulus and Jobs

In this chart, the RED lines on the left side -- the ones that keep doing DOWN -- show what happened to jobs under the policies of Bush and the Republicans. We were losing lots and lots of jobs every month, and it was getting worse and worse. The BLUE lines -- the ones that just go UP -- show what happened to jobs when the stimulus was in effect. We stopped losing jobs and started gaining jobs, and it was getting better and better. The leveling off on the right side of the chart shows what happened as the stimulus started to wind down: job creation leveled off at too low a level.

It looks a lot like the stimulus reversed what was going on before the stimulus.

Conclusion: THE STIMULUS WORKED BUT WAS NOT ENOUGH!

More False Things

These are just three of the false things that everyone "knows." Some others are (click through): Obama bailed out the banks, businesses will hire if they get tax cuts, health care reform cost $1 trillion, Social Security is a Ponzi Scheme or is "going broke", government spending "takes money out of the economy."

Why This Matters

These things really matter. We all want to fix the terrible problems the country has. But it is so important to know just what the problems are before you decide how to fix them. Otherwise the things you do to try to solve those problems might just make them worse. If you get tricked into thinking that Obama has made things worse and that we should go back to what we were doing before Obama -- tax cuts for the rich, giving giant corporations and Wall Street everything they want -- when those are the things that caused the problems in the first place, then we will be in real trouble.

via ourfuture.org

If they will pay attention ....

SpongeBob SquarePants Makes An Enemy | Media Matters for America

Fox Blasts Nickelodeon For "Pushing A Global Warming Agenda"

CNS News Reported That Education Department Offered Free Books, Including SpongeBob Global Warming Tale. In an August 2 article, CNSNews.com reported that during a July Department of Education event promoting reading, children "were treated to free books," including a SpongeBob SquarePants book that "promotes the idea that global warming is manmade." [CNSNews, 8/2/11]

• Glenn Beck's Website Asked If Ed. Dept. Is "Indoctrinating Children." On August 2, Glenn Beck's The Blaze promoted the CNSNews story and asked: "Is the U.S. Department of Education indoctrinating children to accept man-made global warming as fact?" The Blaze also embedded a 2005 SpongeBob video with the same storyline as the book. [The Blaze, 8/2/11]

Fox's Steve Doocy: "Clearly Nickelodeon Is Pushing A Global Warming Agenda." On the August 3 edition of Fox & Friends, co-host Steve Doocy said:

DOOCY: The Department of Education invited a bunch of DC kids in and they had this festivity and they handed out these particular Nickelodeon books where clearly Nickelodeon is pushing a global warming agenda. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 8/3/11]

Fox's Gretchen Carlson: SpongeBob "Blamed Man For Global Warming" But "Did Not Tell Kids That That Is A Disputed Fact." Fox & Friends aired clips from the SpongeBob video and co-host Gretchen Carlson said:

CARLSON: The Department of Education using SpongeBob SquarePants now to teach kids about global warming. The government agency showed kids this cartoon and handed out books that blamed man for global warming, but they did not tell kids that that is actually a disputed fact. Oops! [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 8/3/11]

• Department of Education: "We've Never Shown Any Videos" At The Reading Events. Contrary to Carlson's claim, Tim Tuten of the Department of Education said that the SpongeBob video was not shown at the reading events. "We've never shown any videos ever, so I have no idea where that is coming from," he said. Tuten added that participants were permitted to choose one of dozens of diverse books to take home with them and the SpongeBob book was one of those options. [Phone conversation, 8/3/11]

Doocy Claims Unnamed "Parents" Think SpongeBob Book Pushes "Over-The-Top Green Agenda." On Fox & Friends, Doocy said:

DOOCY: The Department of Education giving kids free books about SpongeBob. Seems like a good idea right? Well some parents don't think so. They say the books are being used to push an over-the-top green agenda regarding global warming. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 8/3/11]

Carlson On SpongeBob: "He Is Only Looking At It From One Point Of View." On Fox & Friends Carlson also said of the Nickelodeon show:

CARLSON: We all know that SpongeBob is popular with the kids and for the life of me I still keep trying to figure out why it is. My kids watch limited TV but every time they chose that show, I'm like, 'Why?'  Anyway -- it's hard to even follow sometimes. Anyway now maybe that will be a good thing because SpongeBob is talking a lot about global warming, and he's only looking at it from one point of view. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 8/3/11]

Fox's Dave Briggs: Global Warming Is "Unproven Science." On Fox & Friends, guest co-host Dave Briggs added:

BRIGGS: It's unproven science. And again, this is public education system that we all pay our tax dollars for and the SpongeBob book says that it's a manmade problem that requires human intervention.

DOOCY: Right. They're presenting it as fact.

BRIGGS:  As fact. Meanwhile, the schools there -- I mean, we're talking about 14th in the world in reading, 17th in the world in science, 25th in math. So we're forcing an issue that is not yet proven -- we can't even teach our kids the adequate math, reading and science at this point. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 8/3/11]

Fox: SpongeBob Shows "Bias" By Blaming Humans For Global Warming. The following on-screen text aired on Fox & Friends:

[Fox News, Fox & Friends, 8/3/11]

Notion That Humans Are Changing Climate Is Not Controversial Among Mainstream Scientists

National Research Council: "Preponderance Of Scientific Evidence" Indicates That Humans Are Changing The Climate. In a recent report, the National Research Council stated: "[T]he preponderance of scientific evidence points to human activities -- especially the release of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere -- as the most likely cause for most of the global warming that has occurred over the last several decades." [National Research Council, 5/12/11]

American Chemical Society: Climate Change Is "Largely Attributable To Emissions From Human Activities." According to the American Chemical Society: "[C]omprehensive scientific assessments of our current and potential future climates clearly indicate that climate change is real, largely attributable to emissions from human activities, and potentially a very serious problem." [American Chemical Society, accessed 8/3/11]

AAAS: "Global Climate Change Is Real" And "Is Caused Largely By Human Activities." The American Association for the Advancement of Science said in a 2009 statement: "The vast preponderance of evidence, based on years of research conducted by a wide array of different investigators at many institutions, clearly indicates that global climate change is real, it is caused largely by human activities, and the need to take action is urgent." [American Association For The Advancement of Science, 12/4/09]

American Meteorological Society: "Humans Have Significantly Contributed" To Climate Change. In a February 2007 statement, the American Meteorological Society said "there is adequate evidence" to conclude "that humans have significantly contributed" to climate change and that "further climate change will continue to have important impacts on human societies, on economies, on ecosystems, and on wildlife through the 21st century and beyond." [American Meteorological Society, 2/1/07]

Geological Society Of America: "Human Activities ... Account For Most Of The Warming Since The Middle 1900s." From an April 2010 position statement of the Geological Society of America:

The Geological Society of America (GSA) concurs with assessments by the National Academies of Science (2005), the National Research Council (2006), and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007) that global climate has warmed and that human activities (mainly greenhouse gas emissions) account for most of the warming since the middle 1900s. If current trends continue, the projected increase in global temperature by the end of the twentyfirst century will result in large impacts on humans and other species. [Geological Society of America, April 2010]

Fox Cites Scientists "On Both Sides" To Claim There Is A "Big Question" About Global Warming

Doocy On Manmade Global Warming: "There's A Lot Of Scientists That Say It's This. Others Say It's That." Suggesting that kids should not be taught that humans are changing the climate, Doocy said:

DOOCY: While there is no disputing the fact that the earth is getting a little warmer, the big question is, is it manmade or is it just one of those gigantic climactic, you know, phases that we're going - for a while we're cold and then we get warmer and then we get colder and warmer. Is it - which one is it? The science on both sides - there are a lot of scientists who say it's this. Others say it's that. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 8/3/11]

Vocal Minority Of "Experts" Also Denies Second-Hand Smoke Risks, HIV-AIDS Link

Tobacco Industry Recruited Scientists To Obscure Health Effects Of Second-Hand Smoke. From a 2009 article in the European Journal of Public Health:

Denialism is a process that employs some or all of five characteristic elements in a concerted way. The first is the identification of conspiracies. When the overwhelming body of scientific opinion believes that something is true, it is argued that this is not because those scientists have independently studied the evidence and reached the same conclusion. It is because they have engaged in a complex and secretive conspiracy. The peer review process is seen as a tool by which the conspirators suppress dissent, rather than as a means of weeding out papers and grant applications unsupported by evidence or lacking logical thought.

[...]

The second is the use of fake experts. These are individuals who purport to be experts in a particular area but whose views are entirely inconsistent with established knowledge. They have been used extensively by the tobacco industry since 1974, when a senior executive with R J Reynolds devised a system to score scientists working on tobacco in relation to the extent to which they were supportive of the industry's position. The industry embraced this concept enthusiastically in the 1980s when a senior executive from Philip Morris developed a strategy to recruit such scientists (referring to them as 'Whitecoats') to help counteract the growing evidence on the harmful effects of second-hand smoke. This activity was largely undertaken through front organizations whose links with the tobacco industry were concealed, but under the direction of law firms acting on behalf of the tobacco industry. In some countries, such as Germany, the industry created complex and influential networks, allowing it to delay the implementation of tobacco control policies for many years. [European Journal of Public Health, January 2009]

Those Who Deny Link Between HIV And AIDS Also Claim To Have Scientists On Their Side. From a July 2009 New Scientist report:

The origins of the AIDS denialism movement can be traced back to 1987, four years after the discovery of HIV. Peter Duesberg was then a renowned researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, who had shown that some cancers were triggered by retroviruses. In March that year, Duesberg performed an about-face, publishing an article in which he questioned his original finding that retroviruses caused cancer, and also whether HIV (another retrovirus, although not one that he had studied) caused AIDS.

At the time, HIV science was in its infancy, and Duesberg was not the only mainstream scientist to speculate whether AIDS was actually caused by lifestyle factors such as taking drugs, for example. Indeed, New Scientist published Duesberg's manifesto of dissent in 1988.

"Duesberg did get laypeople's attention, and they, in turn, got him scientific attention," says University of California sociologist, Steven Epstein, author of Impure Science, a book on AIDS research. "Credibility was cycled back and forth."

As the clinical and epidemiological evidence linking HIV with AIDS accrued, however, support for denialism among mainstream scientists fell away. In the mid-1990s came the clincher. Cocktails of ART [antiretroviral therapy] were found to halt the replication of HIV and reverse and prevent the development of AIDS. By the end of 1996, doctors in the west were witnessing the "Lazarus effect": AIDS patients who had been mortally ill were rising from their beds, putting on jackets and ties, and reporting for work.

[...]

Denialism in the west continued to limp along, attracting a following of conspiracy theorists, attention seekers, peddlers of pseudoscience and HIV patients in denial. The movement's leaders vary in their credibility. Duesberg's most vocal supporter is David Rasnick, a former biochemist who makes much of his research background, as he once studied a group of enzymes called proteases. HIV possesses a protease enzyme, and protease inhibitors represent a key class of ART drugs. However Rasnick only worked on rat proteases, never on HIV's.

Then there is Henry Bauer, a retired chemistry and life sciences professor at Virginia State University in Petersburg, who edits the Journal of Scientific Exploration. This publishes research on such topics as alien abductions and telepathy. Before dabbling in virology, Bauer was a leading authority on the existence of the Loch Ness monster. [New Scientist, 7/31/09]

Anti-Vaccine Movement Also Supported By "'Contrary' Expertise." From a May 2009 article in PLoS Biology:

Until the summer of 2005, Sharon Kaufman had never paid much attention to the shifting theories blaming vaccines for a surge in reported cases of autism. Kaufman, a medical anthropologist at the University of California, San Francisco, knew that the leading health institutions in the United States had reviewed the body of evidence, and that they found no reason to think vaccines had anything to do with autism. But when she read that scientists and public officials who commented on the studies routinely endured malevolent emails, abusive phone calls, and even death threats, she took notice.

[...]

Kaufman thinks the problem is more immediate than bridging the gap between lay and expert understanding of risk. Parents treated theoretical risk as fact even as scientists tested, and ultimately rejected, the possibility that thimerosal might harm children. Thinking the institutions that were supposed to protect them from risk failed, Kaufman says, people now do their own research. But instead of leading to more certainty, she explains, "collecting more information actually increases doubt."

With the explosion of "contrary" expertise online, Kaufman says, "many parents see even the most respected vaccine experts' perspective on the issue as just one more opinion." The bulk of antivaccination Web sites present themselves as legitimate sources of scientific information, using pseudoscientific claims and emotional appeals, according to a 2002 study in Archives of Disease in Childhood. Making matters worse, the study found, nearly all sites adopted an "us versus them" approach, casting doctors and scientists as either "willing conspirators cashing in on the vaccine 'fraud' or pawns of a shadowy vaccine combine." Parents' intuitive views about vaccines were elevated above "cold, analytical science." Accounts of children "maimed or killed by vaccines" were common--a finding that may help explain why those who advocate immunization receive death threats. [Public Library of Science, May 2009]

via mediamatters.org

Heaven forbid children should actually learn about the environment, according to Fox News and Rupert Murdoch.

What Obama Has Done (Comprehensive Edition) | News Junkie Post

There has been a great deal of change and reform delivered over the last two years.  While most of these have gone by unnoticed or are not remembered, a fine Wiki team has recorded and organized every major point in a comprehensive database, now available here.

There are a few excellent resources where the victories of Change and Reform have been assembled on the internet, including the Democratic Change Update (reposted on News Junkie Post), the 244 Accomplishments of Obama, and the Things Obama Has Done page on Facebook.

While the mainstream media narrative has been dominated by right wing and Tea Party talking points, many of the fundamental changes in direction of this country have not received the attention they deserve.  Now in one day, the very politicians who venomously opposed these reforms, the very people who want to take America back to the days of Bush are poised to retake the US House of Representatives.  They are banking on the short attention span of voters, so share this list liberally!

CHAPTER LIST

Arts and Culture
Banking and Financial Reform
Civil Rights
Commerce, Trade and technology
Conservation
Economy
Education: College
Education: Health of Children
Employment: Jobs
Energy: Green
Energy: Old
Energy: Oil
Foreign Affairs and International Relations
Government Efficiency
Health and Wellness
Health Care Reform (See also Taxes)
Housing
Humanitarianism
Immigration
Infrastructure
Labor
Law and Justice
Medicaid/Medicare/Social Security
Military and National Security
Military Veterans and Families
National Disasters and Emergencies
National Service
Scientific and Medical Research
Space Exploration and Space Station
Taxes
Transparency and Accountability
Recovery, Progress and Change
Miscellaneous

Chapter 1: BANKING AND FINANCIAL REFORM

Broad Policy

Established the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. [pdf]

Established President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability to assist in financial education for all Americans. [pdf]

Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010.

Dodd-Frank (DF) Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the biggest financial reform law since the Great Depression.

Managed the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) [pdf]

Assigned a Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program Act of 2009.

Pension Relief Act of 2010.

Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act.

Played a lead role in G-20 Summit re: financial crisis.

Reformed deferral rules to curb tax advantages for investing overseas.

Established new offshore investment policy that promotes in-sourcing.

Funding

Cut salaries for 65 bailout executives (Pay Czar).

Banks have repaid 75% of TARP funds, bringing the cost down to $89B as of June 2010.

Closed offshore tax safe havens, tax credit loopholes. [pdf]

Targeted Actions

Created the Financial Stability Oversight Council to monitor stability of the financial system & individual firms. [pdf]

New requirements for reporting financial data. [pdf]

Created self-funded Office of Financial Research (OFR) to collect information from financial firms. [pdf]

OFR employees must wait a year before working for certain financial firms. [pdf]

Provided for orderly liquidation of financial companies. [pdf]

Limited trading activities of banks (Volcker Rule) beginning 2 yrs after passage. [pdf]

Swaps Pushout Rule prevented federal assistance to swaps (including derivatives) traders. [pdf]

Derivatives must be traded transparently through a clearing house. [pdf]

Defined the amount and nature of assets required to meet capital requirements. [pdf]

Originators of asset-backed securities must retain 5% ownership/risk. [pdf]

Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (DF). [pdf]

Stronger client fiduciary duty for broker-dealers. [pdf]

Higher standards for securities advertising and disclosures. [pdf]

Expanded “insider loans”. [pdf]

Higher standards for systemically important ($50 billion assets+) institutions, including annual stress tests and restrictions on bank acquisitions. [pdf]

Executive compensation must be determined by an independent committee.[pdf]

Issued compensation guidelines for bank executive salary and bonuses.

Financial agencies must establish Offices of Women & Minorities to promote more diverse hiring. [pdf]

Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act.

Credit CARD Technical Corrections Act of 2009.

Established a credit card bill of rights.

Reformed credit card swipe fees.

Created new criminal penalties for mortgage fraud.

Congress pursued Goldman Sachs for securities violations.

Permanently extended Research and Experimentation Tax Credit for domestic investments.

Results

(Treasury) Sold 1.5 billion shares of Citigroup at a profit.

G-20 summit produced a $1.1 trillion deal to combat the global financial crisis.

Negotiated deal with Swiss banks to permit US government to gain access to records of tax evaders and criminals.

Financial reform has ‘strongest consumer financial protections in history

Chapter 2: HEALTH CARE REFORM

Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act

Requires large employers to contribute to a national healthcare plan

Requires Insurance Companies to cover pre-existing conditions

Requires health plans to disclose how much of premium goes to patient care

Establishes an independent health institute to provide accurate & objective information

Provides minimal essential healthcare coverage by Veterans Affairs

Kids can stay on their parent’s insurance until 26 under certain conditions

Prevents children from being denied health insurance coverage

Establishes early retiree reinsurance program

Increased regulation of drug manufacturers

Cut prescription drug cost for medicare recipients by 50% and began eliminating the plan’s gap (doughnut hole) in coverage

TRICARE Affirmation Act

Extended COBRA (Consolidate Omnibus Budget Reconciliation) to provide for a continuation of healthcare

Medicare Physicians Repayment Act of 2009

Chapter 3: CIVIL RIGHTS AND ARTS & CULTURE

Funding

Provide $12.2 Billion in new funding for Individuals With Disabilities Act through the American Recovery and Investment Act

Targeted Actions

Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Acts: Equal pay for equal work

Extended Benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees

Presidential Memorandum protecting gay and lesbian partners’ visitation and healthcare decision making rights

Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act to include gender, sexual orientation and disability

Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act

Appointed more openly gay officials (150) than any other president in history

Established White House Council on Women & Girls

Financial agencies must establish Offices of Women & Minorities to promote more diverse hiring

Increase minority access to capital

Signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities

Increased federal employment of persons with disabilities

Pushing through settlement in black farmers lawsuit against USDA

ARTS & CULTURE

Increased funding for the National Endowment for the Arts to highest level since 1992

Created an artist corps for public schools

Championed the importance of arts education

Promoted cultural diplomacy

Chapter 4: Commerce, Trade & Technology, Conservation

Broad Policy:

Promoted internet freedom as part of US foreign policy

Webcaster Settlement Act of 2009

Satellite TV Extension Act of 2010

Funding

Expanded loan programs for small businesses

Targeted Actions

Small Business Act

Small Business Investment Act

Proposed tougher meat industry antitrust rules

Denied federal contracts to tax delinquents

Appointed the nation’s first Chief Technology Officer

Established Federal IT Dashboard

Modernized USA.gov portal to connect people to services they require

Launched National Export Initiative with goal of doubling exports by 2015 [pdf]

National Export Initiative/Progress report & named President’s Export Council

Launched piracy crackdown

CONSERVATION

Broad Policy:

Morris K Udall Scholarship & Excellence in National Environmental Policy Amendments Act of 2009

Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009

North American Wetlands Conservation Act

Stewardship of the Ocean (established National Ocean Council) for Coasts and the Great Lakes (executive order)

Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economical Performance (exec. order) [pdf]

Established partnerships to share environmental technology with other countries

Funding:

Increased funding for Land and Water Conservation Fund

Increased funding for national parks and forests

$175 million of ARRA allocated for water conservation – $135 million of that in the West

Targeted Areas:

Reengaged in the treaties/agreements to protect Antarctic

Expanded access to places to hunt and fish

Chesapeake Bay Protection & Restoration (executive order) [pdf]

Led effort to phase out whaling

Pursued wildlife management plan

Encouraged more controlled burns to reduce wildfires

Ordered removal of more brush, small trees and vegetation that fuel wildfires

Chapter 5: THE ECONOMY

Broad Policy

The American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009: a $789 billion economic stimulus plan [pdf]

US auto industry rescue plan – Most of which has been paid back [pdf]

Start-up activity now higher than it was during the dotcom boom

Created task force to fight deficit (actually senate voted it down – only 53 votes)

Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009

Temporary extension of programs under Small Business Investment Act of 1958

Funding

Increased minority access to capital

$26 billion aid to states package (Aug. 2010)

Targeted Actions

Raised small business investment limit to $250,000 through the end of 2009

Created an Advanced Manufacturing Fund to invest in peer-reviewed manufacturing processes

Improper Payments Elimination & Recovery Act – establishes a federal “Do Not Pay” list

Extended and indexed the 2007 Alternative Minimum Tax patch

Adopted Economic Substance tax doctrine

Extended unemployment insurance benefits and temporarily suspended taxes on those benefits

Economy grew 5.9% in 4th quarter

U.S. Economy: Manufacturing has grow more than since 2004

U.S. GDP up 3.2% in first quarter

Largest rise in consumer spending in three years

Orders for most durable goods rose

Wholesale inventories and sales rose

$26 billion state aid triggered a surge of private municipal investment

EXHIBITS – THE STIMULUS ONE YEAR LATER

Success of the stimulus: How do you illustrate it could have been much worse?

Distribution of ARRA funds by years

Need for financial education: Investors who act on their own than T-bills; market timers warn negative returns

Consumer debt patterns (revolving & non-revolving) through end of 2009

Growth of the national debt from 2000-2009

Bar chart: 2009 showing increases in national debt by president (since Carter)

Pie chart: 2009 annual deficit contrasting large Bush tax cuts and relatively small ARRA

The Legacy: August 2010

The economy has been growing – seasonally adjusted change in GDP by quarter 2007-2010

The private sector has begun to add jobs – Monthly change in nonfarm employment 2008-2010

GDP would have been lower without the Recovery Act: 2007-2010

Unemployment would have been higher without ARRA: 2008-2010

The gap between actual and full-employment GDP would have been much larger without TARP and AARA: 2008-2010

More Private Sector Jobs Created In 2010 Than During Entire Bush Years

Chapter 6: EDUCATION

COLLEGE

Broad policy:

Enacted largest reform of student aid in 40 years

Health Care & Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010

Established President’s Advisory Council in Financial Capability to assist in financial education for all Americans [pdf]

Funding:

Increased funding for land-grant colleges

Provided means for students struggling to make college loan to refinance

Targeted Actions:

Expanded Pell grants for low-income students

Expanded Pell grant pool by eliminating private lender subsidies for student loans

EDUCATION: HEALTH OF CHILDREN

Broad Policy:

Created the Race to the Top Fund ($4.35 billion) to reward states that create comprehensive education reform plans [pdf]

Children’s Health Insurance Reauthorization of 2009

Funding:

Provided funding for high speed, broadband internet access to K-12 schools

Established State Equalization Fund: new funds for school construction (ARRA)

Provided $77 billion for reforms to strengthen Elementary and Secondary education [pdf]

Fully funded the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)

Provided $12.2 billion in new funding for the Individuals with Disabilities and Reinvestment Act.

$26 billions state aid package saved 160,000 teacher jobs (Aug. 2010)

Provided over $2.3 billion in additional funding to Head Start & Early Head Start programs in 2009

Provided $5 billion for Early Learning Programs under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. [pdf]

Doubled the amount available in Federal Child Care Block Grants

Established “Promise Neighborhood” Grants (modeled after the Harlem Children’s Zone)

Eliminated abstinence-only funding in budget

Targeted Actions:

Helped rebuild schools in New Orleans

Established school programs to highlight space and science achievements

Recruited math and science degree graduates to the teaching profession

Expanded the Nurse-Family Partnership to all low-income, first time mothers

Provided affordable, high-quality child care

Unveiled initiatives to help men be better fathers

Chapters 7-33 and the full expandable database are located at the Obama Achievements Center, a project led by @shoq and @maysgg71 and contributed to by over 80 researchers on the oWiki crowdsourcing team.  Special thanks to Wayne Bomgaars for some style corrections and list/citation additions and creating a discussion group for this on Reddit.  The banner was designed by Ole Ole Olson.

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• 

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via newsjunkiepost.com

I hope turnout of youth voters is very high on Election Day.

Think Progress » ThinkFast: October 13, 2010

ThinkFast: October 13, 2010

A News Corporation shareholder has written a letter to the company’s board objecting to the company’s political donations, like the recent $1 million contribution to the Republican Governor’s Association, and demanding full disclosure of all the company’s political spending by Friday. The shareholder warned in the letter against the use of “corporate treasury funds to further the personal political agendas of corporate management.”

Oil companies and environmentalists alike continued to lambast the Obama administration following its lifting of its offshore drilling moratorium. “Our companies remain doubtful that this announcement is anything more than symbolic until permits are actually issued for new drilling,” said a statement by the National Ocean Industries Association. Public Citizen called the move “reckless and misguided.”

Investors in some of California’s largest energy companies are beginning to pressure those companies about money being spent to pass Proposition 23, which would effectively stop the state from taking action on global warming. Institutional investor groups will announce three shareholder resolutions today challenging Valero Energy Corp., Tesoro Corp. and Occidental Petroleum Corp., which have spent over $8 million to pass Prop. 23.

An alliance of Republican groups is planning to spend $50 million this week on attack ads “in a final push to help the GOP win a majority in the House.” The Alliance, which includes American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS — groups founded by Karl Rove, will spend more this week than the House GOP election committee is expected to spend for the entire election cycle.

Yesterday, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) urged the IRS “to quickly investigate the tax status of Crossroads GPS and other organizations” that are spending millions on campaign ads without disclosing donors. While these groups can keep donors secret as 501(c)(4) organizations, their purpose and primary activities cannot be political and thus, Durbin states, “appear to be in violation of the law.”

Afghan civilian deaths and injuries resulting from NATO-led airstrikes have “dropped dramatically” in recent years, despite and increase in fighting. Airstrikes causes 88 civilian casualties this year, down from 169 in 2008. Officials said “more careful vetting of targets and restrained use of airstrikes have led to the reductions in civilian casualties.”

“A surprise inspection has turned up serious safety violations that could have caused an explosion at another Massey Energy Co. coal mine in West Virginia, the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration” announced this past week. Violations include skipping mandatory tests for explosive gases and digging too deep into a coal seam at Seng Creek Powellton Mine.

And finally: Newt Gingrich is offering an unbeatable deal. For a small $5,000 contribution, Gingrich is willing to deliver you a “prestigious” award. Call now, operators are standing by to take your order!

ThinkProgress is hiring! Details here.

via thinkprogress.org

Glenn Beck, The Tea Party, And The Republicans : The New Yorker

Glenn Beck’s view of American history stems from the paranoid politics of the fifties.

via newyorker.com

A few months ago, the cable-television and radio host Glenn Beck began his Fox News show with one of his favorite props: a pipe clenched between his teeth. “I’ve got my pipe,” he told his audience, his speech slightly muddled by the stem, “because we’re going to speak about schoolish kind of things.” The theme of the day was “Restoring History,” and Beck, looking professorial in a neat dark blazer and a pink button-down shirt, began the lesson by peering at a stack of history textbooks and pronouncing them full of falsehoods, produced by “malicious progressive intent.” Progressives, he explained—liberals, socialists, Communists, the entire spectrum of the left—“knew they had to separate us from our history to be able to separate us from our Constitution and God.” For the next hour, Beck earnestly explained some of the history that “is being stolen from us”: the depression of 1920, for example, or how conservative economics saved the nation from the “near-depression” of 1946—crises that progressives don’t want you to know about. “You’ve been taught one lie, I think, your whole life,” he said.

Read more http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/10/18/101018fa_fact_wilentz

'I'm Not Saying Your Mother's a Whore': How Fox News Censored Jon Stewart Vs. Bill O'Reilly (Feb. 2010)

'I'm Not Saying Your Mother's a Whore': How Fox News Censored Jon Stewart vs. Bill O'Reilly

Fox News has generously placed the full, unedited conversation between Bill O'Reilly and Jon Stewart online, so we can see precisely how unfairly and deviously Fox edited the interview in order to weaken Stewart's case: A lot!

Last night on his show—Part Two of a ludicrously overhyped "faceoff" between O'Reilly and Stewart in which Stewart attempted, among other things, to present a critique of Fox as a fear-mongering GOP messaging operation—O'Reilly boasted that his edit of their 42-minute interview for broadcast was "a fair cut" and invited viewers to have a look at the unedited version online to judge for themselves: "Some of these idiots in the press who hate us, 'O'Reilly cut the interview to make Stewart look'—OK, all of that is bull. It's a fair cut. And then when you watch the cut and watch the whole interview you'll see it."

So we took him up on the offer, and guess what? If by "fair cut" O'Reilly means "cut in a manner that left some of Stewart's best lines, most effective arguments, and most convincing evidence out of the interview and hidden from the broadcast audience," then he's absolutely right.

Here's the best exchange of the whole interview, in which Stewart gets O'Reilly to admit that he thinks Barack Obama believes in "tyranny and socialism," and then asks him why Obama's most generous spending has been to bail out banks. He closed with this unanswerable question: "How many tyrants do you know that really suffer because they can't get cloture?" O'Reilly rejoindered with a lame joke about NBC, because what else could he do? None of this made the air:

 

There were also plenty of sharp points from Stewart that were edited down to, um, duller points. Take this exchange, from the Fox News cut:

STEWART: Here's the brilliance - here's the brilliance of Fox News. What you have been able to do, you and Dr. Ailes, have been able to mainstream conservative talk radio.

O'REILLY: Why wouldn't John McCain come on this program during the last campaign? Why did he dodge us and not come on if you - (inaudible), if we're in business to help the GOP, he wouldn't come in.

STEWART: But you're not in the business of John McCain. He is not GOP enough for you. You're in the business to help Sarah Palin.

Here's the unedited version, which includes Stewart's cogent analysis of how Fox introduces noxious GOP talking points during Fox and Friends—he cites specific examples that the Daily Show has mocked, like Gretchen Carlson's handwringing over the Russian derivation of the word "czar"—and then picks them up during the so-called "hard news" shows under the guise that it's something people are talking about:

 

And to watch the Fox News cut of this exchange, you'd think O'Reilly scored a minor point by mocking Stewart's repeated use of the word "cyclonic"

O'REILLY: Cavuto sane?

STEWART: Being the thinnest kid at fat camp. So let's just get that straight. Here is what Fox has done through their cyclonic, perpetual...

O'REILLY: We're back to the cyclonic.

STEWART: Their cyclonic perpetual emotion machine that is a 24-hour a day, 7-day a week. They've taken reasonable concerns about this president and this economy and turned it into a full-fledged panic attack about the next coming of Chairman Mao. Explain to me why that is the narrative of your network?

Here's what Stewart really said about Neil Cavuto's practice of raising "Is Obama a Stalinist?"-style questions:

I know what this is. I come from Jersey—it's the same thing: "I'm not saying your mother's a whore. I'm just saying she has sex for money. With people." [F]ox News used to be all about, you don't criticize a president during wartime. It's unacceptable, it's treasonous, it gives aid and comfort to the enemy. All of a sudden, for some reason you can run out there and say, "Barack Obama is destroying the fabric of this country."

 

Of course, Fox had to cut something. But they left in a lengthy and stupid bit about Jon Stewart being O'Reilly's vice president, and all sorts of lame O'Reilly banter. To his credit, O'Reilly did repeatedly point his viewers to the full interview online, so it's not like he's exactly trying to hide anything. More like he wants to look good on TV, which is basically the only thing he's ever cared about aside from smearing deep-fried chickpea balls on naked underlings in the shower.

UPDATE: Here are some more clips, none of which made air. The most on-point is this one, in which O'Reilly goes after Stewart for "taking a clip, cutting it up, and making someone look like an idiot." Stewart used a clip of O'Reilly for instance, "criticizing the Bush protesters—but you didn't use the whole clip." Because in order to fairly represent the views of a commentator, you have to use the full clip. (No, the O'Reilly edit didn't unfairly present Stewart—it just deliberately removed his most effective arguments.)

 

Stewart also (genially) went after O'Reilly personally, as opposed to critiquing Fox News. Here's a particularly spectacular moment that didn't make the cut because, we assume, Stewart made O'Reilly look stupid for claiming to live among "the folks."

O'REILLY: Do you know any Tea Party people?

STEWART: Yes, I do.

O'REILLY: Really? Down in Greenwich Village there are Tea Party people?

STEWART: Down in Greenwich Village? Let me tell you something, Bill—I'll give you four blocks of Greenwich Village, and I'll put that up against four blocks around your house—

O'REILLY: Levittown?

STEWART: No, your house now.

O'REILLY: Oh, Levittown is where I was brought up.

STEWART: Well, you don't live there any more brother.

 

 

Here, O'Reilly tries to make the case that Stewart would require bodily protection if he went to Charleston, S.C., presumably because he's Jewish or something? Stewart calls the "real America" meme "idiotic":

 

Stewart on Fox News' "hyperventilating" about Khalid Sheikh Muhammad being tried in the U.S.: "He's not Magneto—Khalid Sheikh Muhammad isn't going to sprout wings and fly out and start shooting buildings with lasers."

 

And here's how he tries to compliment O'Reilly on what he sees as his relative level-headedness in the midst of the maelstrom of white rage that is Fox News:

 

Thanks go to Gawker video interns Aman Ellis and Jessica Poolt for carefully logging the full interview.

Send an email to the author of this post at john@gawker.com.