You have heard, I presume, that House Speaker Paul Ryan (E-WI) has said that after Congress passes its latest tax-cuts-for-the-rich "reform" bill, it'll go after "entitlements" like Medicare and Social Security, because, in Mr. Ryan's unctuous phrasing, that's "how you tackle the debt and the deficit" and "it's the health care entitlements that are the big drivers of our debt". Uh, no: just off the top of my head, refusing to tax millionaire income at 91% like we did in the old days, refusing to tax corporations like we did in the old days, and tolerating waste and fraud in defense spending are just three of the things that "drive our debt" far more than Medicare and Social Security will ever do. But my real bone to pick, of course, is the word "entitlements." So (using the tools in the upper right-hand corner of this page, etc.) go ahead and call your Reps and Senators and tell them that you worked for Medicare and Social Security, you paid into them, you fought for them, and when you get older, you deserve to enjoy them. They're not "entitlements," as if our government is so generous to let us have them. They're ours.
Meanwhile, President Trump must fancy himself bold to announce that Jerusalem is the capitol of Israel (and certainly not Palestine!) and to say he'll move our embassy there from Tel Aviv, but "boldness," here, would be refusing to bow to the wishes of the farthest-right in Israel, a boldness sadly missing from all of our post-WWII Presidents, regardless of how much whining Mr. Netanyahu did about President Obama. Besides, Mr. Trump will run afoul of international law here, since the U.N. still recognizes Jerusalem as a territory separate from either Israel or Palestine, one governed by international jurisdiction. So both Jewish Voice for Peace and the Friends Committee on National Legislation help you tell your Congressfolk to stand up to Mr. Trump and prevent him from moving our Israeli embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. A few Americans will probably die because Mr. Trump loves to swing his balls in the world's face like this, but we oppose his announcement because we stand for real peace between Israel and Palestine, and that requires recognizing the harm Israel has done to Palestinians in the name of self-defense, and assessing how much security Israel has even earned in doing so. (Spoiler alert: the answers are "too much" and "very little.")
Finally, H.R. 848 is called the Farm Regulatory Certainty Act, and when you see the words "Regulatory Certainty" together, you ought to be scared. And indeed, H.R. 848 would prevent our government from regulating animal manure, waste, and fertilizer, even though these are the very things that factory farms pump out in massive quantities, and if they wind up in your drinking water, they might well make you sick. And it won't just be you getting salmonella and E. coli -- it'll be aquatic wildlife dying off, too. The bill would also prevent citizens from suing factory farm corporations at the same time our government is moving against them, and why do these corporations deserve such coddling? So, to sum: H.R. 848 isn't concerned about farms, but factory farms, and what's "regulatory certainty" for them is worry and uncertainty for you whenever you turn on the tap. Hence the Sierra Club helps you tell your Congressfolk to stand for clean water and citizens' rights by opposing the so-called Farm Regulatory Certainty Act. And don't be swayed by arguments about Congress's "intent" in 1979, because factory farms weren't as big then.
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