Not too long ago, the liberal blogger Eschaton called for an expansion of Social Security benefits, and this flew in the face of "conventional" "wisdom," which held that Social Security is totally unsustainable and future seniors (ahem!) will have to accept benefit cuts. As with so much "conventional" "wisdom," it's rubbish -- Social Security doesn't have any problems that can't be ameliorated by a growing economy and an end to the $119,000 cap on taxable income -- but it's good to see folks widening the palette of the possible. Just last Congress, two Senators (Messrs. Begich of Alaska and Harkin of Iowa) introduced legislation that would have increased Social Security benefits; there's no chance of such a bill passing in this Congress, but it's the right thing to do and we should push for it anyway -- especially now that corporations are doing their level best to ruin the pensions they're supposedly running on our behalf, so Social Security may be all we have left. So People for the American Way helps you tell the White House Conference on Aging that you support expanding Social Security benefits.
Meanwhile, US Action helps you tell Congress to support H.R. 1728/S. 613, the Summer Meals Act, and H.R. 2715/S. 1539, the Stop Child Summer Hunger Act. What would these bills do? The Summer Meals Act would operate summer food service programs (which you may generally find at summer school programs, public parks, and some private centers like the Y) in districts where more than 40% of children are eligible for free or discounted school lunch meals, while the Stop Child Summer Hunger Act would allow children who'd be eligible for free or discounted school lunch meals to continue to get that benefit (via a USDA-issued "summer EBT card" worth about $150 per child) during the summer months. The two programs sort of work hand-in-hand, which is nice when you see it. And who would oppose these bills? Some Scrooge McSmallgovernment who can't speak a sentence of fewer than a hundred words, that's who. I suppose they regard childhood hunger as a character-builder, though reasonable people regard hunger as a way of causing children pain and stunting their growth and reducing their ability to fight off illness.
Finally, if you've missed previous opportunities to tell Quaker (and Quaker's owner, PepsiCo) to support mandatory GMO labeling (and, ah, also to stop funding campaigns opposing GMO labeling), then Just Label It still helps you do that. Only this time, you'll be doing that over the phone, because their action tool will patch you through to Quaker HQ. Quaker prides itself on being health-friendly and family-friendly, but it's spent buku bucks to defeat state-level GMO-labeling initiatives (which have come close to passing in Oregon and Colorado, and somewhat less close to passing in Washington and California). And I remain unimpressed with assertions that opposing GMO crops is like denying climate change. Climate change denialism and GMO-positive science both come from where? Corporations. And there's no denying that genetically-manipulating crops in order to withstand proprietary pesticides and herbicides is short-sighted, dangerous, and nowhere near as conducive to feeding the hungry as it is to increasing corporate profits. The CEOs with their gilded plumbing in their 19 vacation homes? They're in food corporations, too.
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