South by Southwest: A quick look at activism and advocacy

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

A quick look at activism and advocacy

[4/8/09]

What's going on in the world of public advocacy these days? For starters, President Obama's grass-roots 'Organizing for America' isn't a factor in the budget battle, according to a Washington Post photo essay, headlined, Obama's Grass-Roots 'Organizing for America' Isn't a Factor in Budget Battle , by Dan Eggen. To quote:

When his post-campaign organization was unveiled in January, Barack Obama vowed that the 13 million-strong grass-roots network built during his presidential campaign would play a "crucial role" in enacting his agenda from the White House.

Investigative journalists at ProPublica (4/8/09) want you to "Check out the Obama Team's Financial Filings." To quote:

. . . we're sharing what we've got.
We've flipped through the disclosures of 179 officials, ranging from the White House social secretary to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and the documents are rich with interesting details. Help us parse the disclosures . . .

Democracy for America launched a push for public health care to be included in any health care reform package. Dr. Howard Dean's leadership was so successful that they 25,000 signatures, rather than the announced goal of 10,000. This week's project is a letter writing campaign to local newspapers, again asking that public healthe care coverage be included in reform legislation. There is a letter writing tool at TAKE 3 MINUTES AND WRITE YOUR LETTER TODAY.

Last week Credo Mobile publicized the need for more regulation of carbon emissions. Twenty-six Senate Democrats joined their Republican colleagues in passing a rule that the filibuster will be used to block any meaningful climate legislation. But President Obama has the authority to order the EPA to reduce carbon emissions vi an endangerment finding. (Remember the Supreme Court ruling on the matter a few years ago). Here is the opportunity to Click here to ask President Obama to approve the EPA endangerment finding and regulate carbon emissions now.

Credo Mobile offers a fun interactive: Bracket of evil, asking Who's worst of all: Karl Rove or Blackwater?

The Championship Round: Use the bracket below to vote for the most malevolent forces in American politics. Just click on the people/corporations you want to vote for, then hit "Vote" at the bottom of the page. Happy bracketing! Credo Action

See also Behind the Links, for further info on this subject.

Carol Gee - Online Universe is the all-in-one home page for all my websites.

Technorati tags: news news and politics politics advocacy activism