Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Today's Action Alert



Today's Action comes from MoveOn.

Write a letter to the editor of your local paper explaining why the Republicans should not use the nuclear option to eliminate the filibuster. Here are some talking points, but you should put these in your own language.

* In the next 10 days the Republicans will try to use the "nuclear option" to seize absolute power to appoint judges who will roll back decades of progress in protecting worker rights, the environment, and privacy.
* The "nuclear option" is a parliamentary trick to eliminate the filibuster - the right to extend debate on controversial judicial nominations.
* One of the first judges the "nuclear option" would force through is Janice Rodgers Brown of California, who is nominated for the Washington D.C. Court of Appeals, a common stepping stone to the Supreme Court
* Judge Brown follows an extremist judicial philosophy that calls for the courts to block Congress from guaranteeing such things as the 40 hour work week, the minimum wage, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act.

Thanks for taking today's action!