Hey, let's talk about frivolous lawsuits! No, not the lawsuits punditoids call "frivolous," in which classes of wronged people sue the corporation that wronged them; I mean lawsuits plaintiffs file against folks who criticize them, like the gag order Nationwide served on a blogger exposing their wrongdoings. SLAPPs, or Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, happen all the time, and they send a lot of humble folk to the poorhouse fighting bogus legal complaints which plaintiffs don't even expect to win, or need to win. Think about it: all they need to do is convince you that speaking out isn't worth the legal bills. And a lot of them have a lot more money than you do. Thankfully, over half of America's states already have anti-SLAPP laws, but that still leaves the two dozen that don't, so the Electronic Freedom Foundation helps you tell your Congressfolk to pass anti-SLAPP legislation.
Meanwhile, looks like the Senate will vote on the Bring Jobs Home Act today. Let me guess how this story ends: the "liberal" media hardly covers it, except to let Jon Kyl call it a "stealth tax increase," and the bill fails despite getting a majority in favor while Mitch McConnell accuses it of being somehow "un-American." But our task remains the same. Let Republicans argue that corporations should not get tax breaks for bringing jobs they've shipped overseas back home. More precisely, let Republicans argue that corporations should not only ship your job overseas to someone who'll work for less money, but that corporations should get tax breaks for doing it. After all, if you prick a corporation, does it not bleed? You can call your Senators using the tools in the upper left-hand corner or by calling toll-free at 1.888.659.9401, or email your Senators using this US Action/True Majority contact tool.
Finally, S. 195, the Child Support Protection Act, would restore federal matching funds to state child support enforcement agencies -- which would allow said enforcement agencies to do a better job collecting the funds children deserve by law from their deadbeat parents. Yes, we have laws, but we don't always have the means to enforce them, and in this case better enforcement could keep children out of poverty. Despite co-sponsorship from noted non-liberals Olympia Snowe and John Cornyn, one wonders how far right-wingers will take food out of children's mouths this time. OK, then, thinking like a teabagger, thinking like a teabagger IT BURNS IT BURNS ah, got it: government's broke! (Get it from some Wall Street tycoons.) Why aren't people more responsible? (But what do children do, exactly, to become undeserving of financial support?) It's Chicago-style cronyism! (Oh, now you're not even trying.) The AFSCME helps you tell your Congressfolk to support S. 195.
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