God's Day... And God's Taunt

Above is a sermon by guest preacher Bill McKibben from last Sunday, April 28, 2013. If you know much about McKibben it won't surprise you to know that the sermon is about Climate Change-- starting with the Hebrew Bible's story of Job, moving on to the Hindu Bhagavad Gita and winding up with the Christian Bible's Matthew 19. I'd go to church on Sunday if I knew of any preachers giving sermons like McKibben's.

The is the largest social justice issue that we have ever faced... When I started this work, one of the things I'd always heard was that environmentalism was something for rich white people who had taken care of their other problems and if you worried where your next meal was coming from you wouldn't be an environmentalist. What we found as we worked around the world is exactly the opposite. Rich people tend to feel themselves immune from these changes. Most of the people we work with around the world are poor and black and brown and Asian and young because that is what most of the world consists of and, what do you know, those people care as much about the future of the world as anybody else, maybe more so because if you are poor in this world right now, the future bears down harder on you than it does on anybody else...

As I've said, so far we've raised the temperature one degree but the same scientists who told us that would happen have shown quite clearly that that one degree would be 4 or 5 by century's end unless we act very swiftly to get off coal and gas and oil. And the larger question is why aren't we doing that? Why aren't we trying to make ourselves somewhat smaller? Why aren't we following, say, the lead of Germany, the only major country that's really pursued renewable power at an appropriate pace? There are now more solar panels in Bavaria than there are in the United States. [Population of Bavaria- 12,595,891 in 27,239.29 square miles; population of the U.S.- 316,668,567 in 3.794 million square miles.] There were days last summer when Germany generated more than half the power it used from solar panels within its borders and this is Germany. Munich is north of Montreal. Think what a country could do if it had... oh, I don't know... Florida or Nevada, Texas or California or Arizona to work with!

But we don't act; and for a particular reason-- one that will be clear to those who are used to reading the Gospels. Our richest people don't want to act because it would reduce their wealth somewhat. The fossil fuel industry is the one percent of the one percent, the richest enterprise in human history. Exxon made more money last year than any company in the history of money... These companies have more money than God.

And so far, they have been able to deploy those funds in political ways to make sure that nothing ever changes. They have bought, in our nation's capital and many others, a 25-year bipartisan effort to accomplish nothing. By all means listen to the rest of McKibben's sermon; it gets better from here.

I just want to follow up on one of his thoughts. Below are the dozen current Members of Congress who have taken the biggest legalistic bribes from Oil and Gas since 1990, a time when Oil and Gas deployed $198,833,341 in bribes to Members of Congress and to candidates for Congress.

• John McCain (R-AZ)- $3,043,404
• John Cornyn (R-TX)- $1,990,350
• Joe Barton (R-TX)- $1,734,255
• Steve Pearce (R-NM)- $1,479,701
• Jim Inhofe (R-OK)- $1,457,696
• Miss McConnell (R-KY)- $1,348,311
• Don Young (R-AK)- $1,193,613
• David Vitter (R-LA)- $1,144,385
• Mary Landrieu (D-LA)- $1,086,084
• Mike Conaway (R-TX)- $942,118
• Pete Sessions (R-TX)- $868,346
• Charles "Lord" Boustany (R-LA)- $803,655

These 11 extraordinarily corrupt men and this one extraordinarily corrupt woman have been career-long, absolute shills for Big Oil and Gas. They have carried their agenda faithfully and blocked any and all attempts to deal with Climate Change realistically. Is there anything we can do about it? Next year, McConnell and Landrieu are up for reelection, as are all 6 of the House Members above. Once there's a plausible candidate running against McConnell, Blue America will be working to help him or her defeat the corrupt old closet case and oil shill. Of the House incumbents, Joe "Oily Joe" Barton, Big Oil's #1 shill in the House, already has an opponent, progressive Democrat Kenneth Sanders. You can help him overcome Big Oil cash with small grassroots contributions here.

Joe Barton also claims to be a Bible scholar and he uses a simplistic interpretation of the story of Noah in the Bible to justify the Oil and Gas Industry agenda. The biggest newspaper in his district, the Star-Telegram reported on Ken Sanders' response.

Apparently Congressman Joe Barton is also a Biblical scholar and a climate scientist as he has looked into the Good Book and found evidence to deny the clear reality of human impact on climate change.

This is just another example of Rep. Joe Barton, placing his financial interest over the needs and concerns of fellow Texans in the 6th Congressional District. His statement does not come as a surprise considering how he has received $3.2 million in campaign contributions from the oil and gas industries, any number of plausible responses might well come to his mind. However, support of the Keystone Pipeline need not be conflated with the political rhetoric for the sake of Joe Barton's financial gain.

Joe Barton is a disappointment to Texans who count on him to represent their interest; his understanding of God’s holy word is somewhat suspect as well. As a person of faith, I'm personally disappointed that he has looked into the Good Book and found evidence to deny any human impact on climate change. I believe most people in the faith community consult the Bible to strengthen their faith and for instruction on how to live a moral and upright life, not to twist and misinterpret the Word of God for political purposes. He simply supports big oil without restrictions. We have to consider the environmental impact of oil drilling and pipeline construction. His comments lack sound judgment or logic.

This is typical rhetoric from "Smokey" Joe. Joe Barton is not new to debate and where his loyalty lies when it comes to the oil and gas industry. Congressman Barton is the same person who in 2010 apologized to BP after the Gulf oil spill. He simply supports big oil, its use without hazardous restrictions to humankind and the environment in which we must live. His comment, like his unfailing support for the oil industry, lacks reasoning.

The fact is that climate change is real, evident and supported more by scientific evidence daily. His comment, like his unfailing support for the oil industry, lacks reasoning.

In the year 2013 it is completely unacceptable that a backward thinking politician like Joe Barton is voting on legislation that will affect the quality of life for future generations. The science on this issue is not debatable. Joe Barton simply does not believe in science. Voters in the 6th Congressional District must get to the polls in 2014 to retire Mr. Barton. His political reasoning or lack thereof on this critical issue must not be supported.

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104 Republican Congressmen Voted To Reduce Benefits For Seniors And Vets

Looks like somebody stepped in it

The GOP is trying to decide how to best use Obama's screw up on Chained CPI for their own purposes. It's a Republican Party policy that he foolishly adopted for his dead-in-the-water budget at the urging of Boehner and McConnell. When will he ever learn that their ideas are toxic? (That's a rhetorical question; he'll never learn.) But while some Republicans praise the idea or say it doesn't go far enough, the chairman of the NRCC, Greg Walden (R-OR) has decided to use it in an attack against Democrats aimed at seniors and people who expect to be seniors someday. H was quick to run to CNN and tell Wolf Blitzer viewers that "the budget really lays out kind of a shocking attack on seniors, if you will. And we haven't seen all the detail yet, and we'll look at it, but I'll tell you, when you're going after seniors the way he's already done on Obamacare, taking $700 billion out of Medicare to put into Obamacare, and now coming back at seniors again, I think you're crossing that line very quickly here in terms of denying access to seniors for health care in districts like mine, certainly, and around the country. I think he's going to have a lot of pushback from some of the major senior organizations on this and Republicans, as well... you're trying to balance this budget on the backs of seniors and I just think it's not the right way to go."

And yet... and yet... 104 House Republicans already voted for Chained CPI on March 20th, when it was presented as part of the Republican Study Committee's alternative budget. So whatever game Walden wants to try playing, the candidates he's charged with reelecting aren't running against Barack Obama. They're running against Democrats who, in most instances are strongly opposed to Chained CPI, no matter if it's being proposed by Boehner, Obama or a bunch of crackpot extremists. Let's take Buck McKeon, for example. McKeon is an extremist in a moderate suburban Los Angeles area district (CA-25). His likely opponent in 2014 will be Dr. Lee Rogers, one of America's most distinguished podiatric surgeons, a man who already came closer to beating McKeon than anyone else in his career. As soon as Alan Grayson and Mark Takano circulated their letter pledging not to vote for any cuts to benefits for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, Rogers announced he would have signed it on the day it was drafted. "As a doctor I am adamantly opposed to cutting benefits to our population in most need. I announced several weeks ago, I would have been a day-one signer of the letter Mark Takano and Alan Grayson authored pledging to protect seniors and veterans from cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits, including chained CPI." So for voters in Santa Clarita, Antelope Valley and Simi Valley, there is a clear choice: McKeon (and Obama) want to cut social security benefits for seniors and veterans using Chained CPI. Rogers is adamantly opposed. 104 Republican incumbents are in the same boat and although most of them are crazy fanatics in gerrymandered blood red districts with constituents as ignorant as they are, there are several, like McKeon, in more precarious political positions.

This is a list of Republicans (with their districts' PVIs) who already voted to reduce benefits for seniors and veterans and could be vulnerable to competent independent-minded Democratic opponents in 2014:

• Justin Amash (R-MI) R+4
• Joe Barton (R-TX) R+11
• Kerry Bentivolio (R-MI) R+4
• Dave Camp (R-MI) R+5
• Steve Chabot (R-OH) R+6
• Ron DeSantis (R-FL) R+9
• Scott Garrett (R-NJ) R+4
• Randy Hultgren (R-IL) R+5
• Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) R+10
• Patrick McHenry (R-NC) R+11
• John Mica (R-FL) R+4
• Steve Pearce (R-NM) R+5
• Robert Pittenger (R-NC) R+8
• Scott Rigell (R-VA) R+2
• Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) R+7
• Pete Sessions (R-TX) R+10
• Lee Terry (R-NE) R+4
• Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) R+8

There are Democrats serving in Congress in districts with PVIs higher than these. It won't be easy for any of them, but it's not impossible either. The Democrats running against these guys-- and every one of them is a male (even Patrick McHenry and Dave Camp)-- have an opponent who voted to cut Social Security for seniors and vets. They did it already. That should be what the election in those districts are about.

Two of the Democrats in the Blue America Save Social Security contest, Nick Ruiz and Ken Sanders, are in that sweet spot, respectively running against John Mica and Joe Barton. As you can see, each is already running against Chained CPI and other unfair cuts their opponents back. Sanders has a message that will resonate in the suburbs between Dallas and Ft Worth, maybe even down in Waxahachie, Midlothian, Ennis and Corsicana:

"We cannot balance the budget on the backs of seniors, veterans, and our nation’s most vulnerable citizens. Our Social Security system is critical to protecting middle class families, and we cannot allow it to be dismantled one inch. Chained CPI, cutting Social Security, is a terrible idea and a pointless exercise. Besides, Social Security isn't in serious trouble. The Social Security trust fund is flush for at least two decades. If we want to ensure it's there beyond that, there's an easy fix-- just lift the ceiling on income subject to Social Security taxes, which is now $113,700. This way people making above $113,700 will pay like everyone else does, is a far better way of keeping Social Security secure long into the future. We need Congressional leaders who support middle class families, seniors and veterans; those who have helped make this nation great. I will fight to defend social security from Chained CPI. Seniors spend 20-40% of their income on healthcare. Two-thirds of seniors rely on Social Security for most of their income; one-third relies on it for at least 90% of their income. These people aren’t stashing their Social Security checks in the Cayman Islands and buying vacation homes in Aruba-- they are hanging on by their fingernails to their place in the middle class. Right now, corporate profits are at an all time high, the wealthy are doing phenomenally well and we must not balance the budget on the backs of some of the most vulnerable people in this country. Support me and I will be your voice in Washington to fight against Chained CPI and any other cut that threatens the shrinking middle class families of this country."

Nick Ruiz is running in the suburbs just north of Orlando-- Winter Park, Altamonte Springs, Oviedo, Maitland, Apopka, and all the way up to Deltona and Orange City. He'd make a great neighbor for Alan Grayson, who represents the suburbs on the other side of Orlando. They sure see eye to eye on protecting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Ruiz: "I would never vote to diminish Social Security benefits.These benefits cover retirees, widows, children, disabled persons and veterans-- none of whom receive enough as it is by current economic standards of reasonable cost, inflation and common decency. In fact, it's part of my platform to actually increase Social Security benefits, financed by lifting the FICA cap, and Wall Street cost-sharing. My GOP opponent, John Mica wants to CUT Social Security benefits and make seniors retire even later in life, at 70 years of age. It's unacceptable. Help me stop him."

If you'd like to vote in our contest, just contribute at least one dollar to one of the anti-Chained CPI candidates on this page. The candidate who gets the most donors wins $1,000 from the Blue America PAC and everyone who donates is eligible to win an RIAA-certified platinum award for the eponymous 311 album. Win-win!

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Joe Barton (R-TX) And A Buy Bull Environmental Strategy-- Soaked In Oil, Of Course

Joe Barton (R-Oil)

I don't watch much TV but, aside from Rachel Matthews, Lawrence O'Donnell and Chris Hayes, I spend most of my TV time watching the History Channel. Not Swamp People, Ax Men, American Pickers, Counting Cars, or that kind of garbage, but the quality stuff, like Ancient Aliens, Vikings and The Bible. I have this innate ability, though, to not mix up the real world with the TV world... even though I was tweeting back and forth a couple weeks ago with Ragnar Lodbrok and shieldmaiden Lagertha.

Texas Congressman Joe Barton (AKA, "Oily"Joe Barton, the former chairman of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, who has taken more legalistic bribes from Big Oil and Gas than any other Member of the House, $1,727,055) is currently hoping to draw attention away from his latest ethics problems. So... out comes the clown makeup and the "Hey look over here; I'm bonkers" routine. Or maybe he really does have trouble distinguishing between what he sees on TV or reads in fairy tales and the real world-- which is fine, except that he's supposed to be a legislator helping set the country's policy agenda.

Like most Members of Congress whose careers are financed by Big Oil, Barton is a fanatic opponent of the findings of climate scientists. He claims, like the rest of the bribed "conservatives," that man has no responsibility for global warming if global warming even exists. (Barton admits it does.)

The Texas Republican Joe Barton stands out even among his fellow conservative Republicans who have made it an article of faith to deny the existence of a human component to climate change.

On Wednesday, Barton cemented that reputation by citing the Old Testament to refute scientific evidence of man-made global warming, drawing on the story of Noah's ark.

"I would point out that if you are a believer in the Bible, one would have to say the great flood was an example of climate change," Barton told a congressional hearing on Wednesday in a video first shown on the Buzzfeed website. "That certainly wasn't because mankind had overdeveloped hydrocarbon energy."

Barton was speaking at a house subcommittee hearing called by the Republican leadership to promote a bill that would allow Congress to fast-track a controversial pipeline that would pump crude from the tar sands of Alberta to refineries on the Texas coast.

The Texas congressman began by reiterating his support for the Keystone XL pipeline. He went on to say that he did not dispute the existence of climate change-- just any connection to human activity, such as the greenhouse gas emissions produced by the burning of fossil fuels.

"I would point out that people like me who support hydrocarbon development don't deny that climate is changing," he said. "I think you can have an honest difference of opinion of what's causing that change without automatically being either all in, that's all because of mankind, or it's all just natural. I think there's a divergence of evidence."

Barton has made a reputation for his outspoken rejection of man-made climate change, and for his support for the oil industry.

In 2010, in the wake of the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, Barton became an object of ridicule for offering a profuse apology to the oil company Barton told then-BP-chairman Tony Hayward he was ashamed that the White House had reached a deal requiring the company to set aside $20bn for clean-up and restoration costs. "I think it is a tragedy of the first proportion that a private corporation can be subjected to what I would characterize as a shakedown, in this case, a $20bn shakedown," Barton said at the time. "I apologize. I do not want to live in a country where any citizen or corporation that does something that is legitimately wrong is subject to some sort of political pressure that, again in my words, amounts to a shakedown. So I apologise."

The Democrat running against Barton is Ken Sanders. I've been talking to him on the phone a lot lately but religion and Bible studies aren't matters we've gotten into. Legislation is. Ken seems like the kind of guy who appreciates the essential message Jesus brought to man, nut whenever I talk to him, he seems focused on things like job creation, economic justice and equality. I reached him this morning about Barton's pontificating and he was already putting together a statement for the local media:

Apparently Congressman Joe Barton is also a Biblical scholar and a climate scientist as he has looked into the Good Book and found evidence to deny the clear reality of human impact on climate change.

Joe Barton is a disappointment to Texans who count on him to represent their interest; his understanding of God’s holy word is somewhat suspect as well. As a person of faith, I'm personally disappointed that he has looked into the Good Book and found evidence to deny any human impact on climate change. I believe most people in the faith community consult the Bible to strengthen their faith and for instruction on how to live a moral and upright life, not to twist and misinterpret the Word of God for political purposes. He simply supports big oil without restrictions. We have to consider the environmental impact of oil drilling and pipeline construction. His comments lack sound judgment or logic.

This is typical rhetoric from "Smokey" Joe. Joe Barton is not new to debate and where his loyalty lies when it comes to the oil and gas industry. Congressman Barton is the same person who in 2010 apologized to BP after the Gulf oil spill. He simply supports big oil, its use without hazardous restrictions to humankind and the environment in which we must live. His comment, like his unfailing support for the oil industry, lacks reasoning.

This is just another example of Rep. Joe Barton, placing his financial interest over the needs and concerns of fellow Texans in the 6th Congressional District. His statement does not come as a surprise considering how he has received $3.2 million in campaign contributions from the oil and gas industries, any number of plausible responses might well come to his mind. However, support of the Keystone Pipeline need not be conflated with the political rhetoric for the sake of Joe Barton's financial gain.

The fact is that climate change is real, evident and supported more by scientific evidence daily. His comment, like his unfailing support for the oil industry, lacks reasoning.

In the year 2013 it is completely unacceptable that a backward thinking politician like Joe Barton is voting on legislation that will affect the quality of life for future generations. The science on this issue is not debatable. Joe Barton simply does not believe in science.

Far be it from me to try to compete with the Biblical interpretations of a scholar like Joe Barton. What’s next for Joe Barton? Will Barton cite the Lord turning water into blood as an argument against clean water? Will Joe Barton refer to plagues of locusts, flies, lice and frogs as arguments against mosquito control?

While you're watching Barton make a fool of himself at the hearing (below), please consider making a contribution to Ken's congressional campaign, here at the Saving Social Security Act Blue Page. Yes, Ken opposes Chained CPI and other schemes to take benefits away from seniors. Barton, of course, is a longtime opponent of social safety programs that benefit working families and the elderly.

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