In the REAGAN/CLINTON era 1980s-90s FAR-RIGHT WING global banking 1% created the ANTI-ENVIRONMENTAL movement and named it GREEN REVOLUTION just to corrupt what was a strong left environmental movement in US. GREEN REVOLUTION back then PRETENDED MONSTANTO with GMO SEEDS, lots of fertilizers, lots of pesticides was GREEN because it super-sized crop yields. In reality it killed all our bread basket SOIL FERTILITY---all our bread basket FRESH WATER AQUIFERS----and created BIG AG/GLOBAL BIG AG making food monopolies in US now killing our US food sovereignty. All that fell under far-right wing GREEN REVOLUTION.
Today, the term ZERO WASTE is the same far-right wing global banking corruption of what has been our US environmental protections against corporate DUMPING OF TOXIC WASTE in our communities and states. As we saw in yesterday's posts----our grassroots 99% WE THE PEOPLE are working hard to clean communities and install small recycle projects all while global corporations are building infrastructure to DUMP TOXIC WASTE and create FAKE TECHNOLOGY making it appear this waste is being cleanly disposed.
The FAR-RIGHT WING is extremely REPRESSIVE AND REGRESSIVE and the goals of ZERO WASTE has already hit here in Baltimore as global VEOLA water and waste start structuring FEES for waste pick-up always free with property taxes------FEES tied to WEIGH OF WASTE in trash cans-----FINES for those citizens not disposing waste in correct cans------PENALTIES for having too much waste. At the same time far-right wing global banking 1% Baltimore City Council and mayor-----Baltimore Maryland Assembly pols are passing laws advancing US FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES WITH GLOBAL FACTORIES which will allow global corporations to IGNORE ALL THOSE ENVIRONMENTAL/ZERO TOLERANCE laws.
WITH STRONG CORPORATE PARTICIPATION ----
'To a significant degree, zero waste in the U.S. is being driven by regional, state and private initiatives, including strong corporate participation'
'At the time, environmentalists gave the plan mixed reviews. They praised the proposal for expanded recycling but criticized O'Malley's emphasis on increasing the amount of garbage burned to generate energy'.
Former Maryland Gov O'Malley is a raging far-right wing global banking 1% who spent his terms PRETENDING to be environmental while super-sizing the economic and development goals of US FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES, GLOBAL FACTORIES, AND ONE WORLD GOVERNANCE for Baltimore and Maryland which has no intent of being GREEN/ENVIRONMENTAL. So, below we see the tag team of O'Malley/Hogan MOVING FORWARD these same policies now of course there is no ZERO WASTE plan but all those FEES, FINES, PENALTIES tied to our 99% WE THE PEOPLE waste pick-up are MOVING FORWARD.
Hogan cancels O'Malley-era 'zero waste' plan
Michael DresserContact Reporter
The Baltimore Sun jUNE 27, 2017
Gov. Larry Hogan said Tuesday night that he has canceled "zero-waste" landfill rules issued by Gov. Martin O'Malley a week before he left office in 2015.
Speaking to the annual summer gathering of the Maryland Municipal League, the Republican governor said he was rescinding the policy in response to complaints from local governments.
Hogan told the group of town and city officials that his Democratic predecessor's action "usurped local authority" and "created overflowing landfills and unnecessary hardships for local governments."
"We are replacing that last-minute, ill-conceived and poorly devised policy with a common-sense, balanced approach to managing waste in Maryland," he said.
Hogan said his action lifts a moratorium on permits for new landfills and sets "achievable" goals for recycling.
Baltimore City Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke said Hogan ought to reconsider and join other states trying to implement zero-waste policies.
"It sounds as if not only trash but also policy would now be moving in exactly the wrong direction," she said. "I find that an unwise decision, which sounds very Trump-ian, and I hope the governor will reconsider and help us bring Maryland back into its unity with other states across the nation who are trying to save the environment through zero waste policies."
O'Malley adopted the plan with the goal of virtually eliminating the placement of waste in Maryland landfills within 25 years. His administration contended that curbing waste disposal in landfills could save taxpayers money, conserve energy and reduce pollution.
His plan came in response to reports that Marylanders were throwing away more trash per person than the typical American.
In announcing the plan, O'Malley described it as "an ambitious policy framework to create green jobs and business opportunities while doing away with the inefficient waste disposal practices that threaten our future."
The "zero-waste" goal actually called for diverting 85 percent of the trash now going to landfills to other means of disposal by 2040. The plan also called for state government to achieve a mandatory recycling rate of 65 percent by 2020.
At the time, environmentalists gave the plan mixed reviews. They praised the proposal for expanded recycling but criticized O'Malley's emphasis on increasing the amount of garbage burned to generate energy.
In his speech, Hogan decried the O'Malley rule as a "burdensome regulation." Earlier in his administration, Hogan also scrapped O'Malley rules requiring extensive use of the best available technologies for septic systems.
Ben Grumbles, the state secretary of the environment, said the executive order on waste lays out a "collaborative" process that focuses on meeting realistic goals.
He said the policy will focus on reducing, reusing and recycling materials.
The secretary said the administration will not introduce a new rule.
"We're not changing the law but we're changing the policy to be more collaborative," he said.
Grumbles said the new policy will help the state meet its existing recycling goals.
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Here is right wing DAILYCALLER correctly OUTING raging far-right wing global banking 1% MARYLAND GOV O'Malley for touting his true agenda -----Climate change is NATURAL ---not MAN-MADE. This is a global corporate policy stance---and not LEFT ENVIRONMENTAL.
“In terms of natural threats, clearly, it’s climate change. And we have to confront — we have to confront manmade and natural threats,” said O’Malley, a Democrat, clearly distinguishing global warming from man-made threats'.
This article goes on to identify far-right global banking 1% pols equally NON-ENVIRONMENTAL as WVa pols -----quoting individual votes each made to identify them as GREEN. When REAGAN/CLINTON created FAKE GREEN REVOLUTION it also created FAKE ENVIRONMENTAL NGOS to pretend far-right wing policies and pols pushing them were being left environmental .
THAT POLICY OF 'ENVIRONMENTAL SCORE CARD' WAS DRIVEN BY FAKE GREEN REVOLUTION NGOS-----THERE IS NO WAY A FAR-RIGHT WING GLOBAL BANKING CLINTON/OBAMA NEO-LIBERAL CAN BE LEFT ENVIRONMENTAL.
So, Maryland's former Gov O'Malley marketed by FAKE GREEN groups as being environmental while pushing as hard as he can all that US FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONE/GLOBAL FACTORY/ONE WORLD GOVERNANCE that will allow global corporations inside US FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES---to ignore all US environmental laws.
MANCHIN AND HEITKAMP from the most CARBON/FOSSIL FUEL driven states of WVA and ND being sold as 'environmental' because of this one vote
'Last week, Senate Democrats Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota broke ranks and voted against an amendment saying that “climate change is real and caused by human activity and that Congress needs to take action to cut carbon pollution.”'
Martin O’Malley Says Global Warming Is A ‘Natural Threat’, Not ‘Man-Made’
3:31 PM 04/01/2015
Michael Bastasch | Energy Editor
Former Maryland governor and presidential hopeful Martin O’Malley told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos Sunday global warming is the most important “natural threat” facing the U.S.
Calling global warming a “natural threat” distinguishes it from “man-made” threats like a nuclear Iran and Islamic extremism.
“The greatest danger that we face right now on a consistent basis in terms of manmade threats is — is — nuclear Iran and related to that, extremist violence,” O’Malley told Stephanopoulos. “I don’t think you can separate the two. I think they go together.”
“In terms of natural threats, clearly, it’s climate change. And we have to confront — we have to confront manmade and natural threats,” said O’Malley, a Democrat, clearly distinguishing global warming from man-made threats.
O’Malley’s comments are a huge departure from President Barack Obama and his cabinet, who not only call global warming a national security but also say it’s caused by human activity. Obama told Congress that “the Pentagon says that climate change poses immediate risks to our national security. We should act like it.”
“The best scientists in the world are all telling us that our activities are changing the climate, and if we do not act forcefully, we’ll continue to see rising oceans, longer, hotter heat waves, dangerous droughts and floods, and massive disruptions that can trigger greater migration, conflict, and hunger around the globe,” Obama said in his State of the Union speech this year.
O’Malley’s remarks also diverge from potential Democratic presidential opponent Hillary Clinton, who has been clear of her support for regulations to restrict burning fossil fuels — a source of global warming, according to most scientists.
Clinton recently told a gathering of environmentalists that the “science of climate change is unforgiving, no matter what the deniers may say” adding that if “we act decisively now we can still head off the most catastrophic consequences” — referring to Democratic support for regulations to curb burning fossil fuels to stop a “man-made” disaster.
THE CLINTONS----CHAMPION OF GLOBAL BIG AG, GLOBAL FRACKING----BUILDING FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES FILLED WITH GLOBAL FACTORIES----OH, YEAH ONLY BURNING FOSSIL FUELS IS THE PROBLEM WITH CLIMATE CHANGE.
O’Malley already has a troubled relationship with the environmental community due to his decision to allow hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in western Maryland while he was governor. Eco-activists were disappointed the former governor did not ban the practice.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, also a Democratic presidential hopeful, earned praise from environmentalists for banning fracking last year, but has also come under fire for dodging questions on global warming.
“I don’t want to get into a political debate at this time about climate change causes, et cetera,” Cuomo said last year. “Forget the causes. Is it global warming? Is it reliance on fossil fuels? Forget the causes. What is inarguable is the result.”
But are Cuomo and O’Malley simply Democratic outliers when it comes to global warming? Maybe not.
Last week, Senate Democrats Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota broke ranks and voted against an amendment saying that “climate change is real and caused by human activity and that Congress needs to take action to cut carbon pollution.”
Both Manchin and Heitkamp are from energy heavy states. West Virginia is a major coal producer while North Dakota has risen to become the country’s second-largest oil-producing state. Both senators have also opposed Environmental Protection Agency regulations that force states to cut carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.
Manchin and Heitkamp, however, did eventually vote in favor of an alternative global warming amendment that simply related to “responding to the economic and national security threats posed by human-induced climate change.” Both lawmakers also voted for an amendment that blocks the government from slapping a tax on carbon dioxide emissions.
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Here is FAKE left environmental NGO ---LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS-----with a scorecard. SIERRA CLUB and FRIENDS OF EARTH have this same scorecard. Because O'MALLEY pretended to be environmental with WINDMILLS and PRETENDED to be holding back FRACKING in Maryland with FAKE studies-----this global NGO gave O'Malley a GREEN score -----because MANCHIN of WVA voted to designate Climate Change as man-made----this NGO gives MANCHIN A GREEN score. All of the above are raging global banking 1% NEO-LIBERALS pushing US AS A TRIBUTE STATE for all natural resources AND ONE WORLD GOVERNANCE that allows all US laws surrounding environment to be ignored.
We have lots of 99% WE THE PEOPLE especially our young adults as grassroots activists WANTING TO BE LEFT ENVIRONMENTAL yet they are attaching to these FAKE GLOBAL GREEN NGOS. Please stop joining these global banking 1% FAKE LABOR AND JUSTICE NGOs.
The US does not have ANY 'LEFT' Democrats in Senate or House and yet 45% of these far-right wing Clinton/Obama neo-liberals are deemed GREEN.
2017 Scorecard VotesMapChartVotes
Cover
Senate Average 45%
House Average 45%
Here is MARYLAND LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS promoting a FAR-RIGHT WING GLOBAL BANKING 1% candidate as GREEN because he supports ONE ISSUE while he says nothing about STOPPING MOVING FORWARD, ending US FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONE status, stopping the building of global corporate campuses and global factories. NONE of these candidates are GREEN----and none of these candidates are DEMOCRATS. They are all far-right wing global banking NEO-LIBERALS.
While Governor, O'Malley headed THE CHESAPEAKE FOUNDATION ----we have NO faith in DATA coming from NGOs led by far-right wing global banking 1% NEO-LIBERALS.
Spotlight on the candidates for Anne Arundel County Council District 4
The Anne Arundel County Council has seven members. It takes a majority of four votes to pass any bill, including any bill to protect our environment. The Anne Arundel Chapter has endorsed seven candidates for the County Council. We are confident that, if elected, they will give Annapolis a strong conservation majority on the Council. Now we have to get them elected.
This is the latest in a series of emails that focus on each individual candidate. In this edition we will introduce you to Councilman Andrew Pruski, the Democratic candidate for District 4, running for re-election. Councilman Pruski represents District 4, which covers Laurel, Fort Meade, Gambrills, Odenton, North Crofton, Millersville, and Crownsville. Find your County Council District here.
MEET ANDREW PRUSKI
Councilman Andrew Pruski is running for his second term on the Anne Arundel County Council. His public service began at early age as an Eagle Scout and work as a Volunteer for the Veteran's Administration. He is running for re-election to continue his goals of supporting our public schools, public safety, protecting our environment, and supporting locally owned businesses.
Councilman Pruski has been a champion for the environment for many years including his service on the Anne Arundel County Board of Appeals and President of the Four Seasons Community Association. He has fought against the two proposed landfills in West County and supported standing for communities trying to challenge unwanted development projects. There are several notable decisions that Councilman Pruski sided with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and other Environmental Groups.
As a school board member and President of the Anne Arundel County Board of Education, Councilman Pruski led efforts to include environmental literacy in the school system curriculum and was an advocate in forming the Watershed Stewards Academy. He believes that environmental education is critical to the future of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.
Councilman Pruski wants to play an integral role in the next General Development Plan by holding open and transparent public hearings to help make wise land use decisions. Councilman Pruski has been an advocate for involving the community in development decisions and promoting policies to protect our environment. His record speaks for itself, he has voted to keep the stormwater remediation fund, ban coal tar, and ban polystyrene foam in Anne Arundel County.
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'A full list of “Environmental Champions” (90-100 percent), “Environmental Stewards” (78-89 percent), and “Pollution Promoters” (zero-35 percent) is included at the end of this release'.
Michigan is where FOXCONN is MOVING FORWARD as fast as it can. MICHIGAN has global VEOLA ENVIRONMENTAL
'AG - Schuette Files Civil Suit against Veolia and LAN for ...
www. michigan .gov › … › Meet Bill › Media › Press Releases
The suit will hold multinational water engineering services corporation Veolia accountable for professional negligence and fraud, which caused Flint’s lead poisoning problem to continue and worsen, and created an ongoing public nuisance'.
As here in Maryland, there is NO MENTION of BALTIMORE'S public water and waste having been privatized a few decades ago to GLOBAL VEOLA ENVIRONMENTAL WATER AND WASTE with Baltimore 99% of citizens having these same problems MICHIGAN is having for the same reasons. Global corporations are attached to all states surrounding GREAT LAKES----ready to drain that last fresh water resource to fuel all those GLOBAL FACTORIES LIKE FOXCONN and yet----we here nothing from SIERRA CLUB/LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS/FRIENDS OF EARTH about these GORILLA-IN-ROOM environmental issues.
THERE ARE NOTHING BUT FAR-RIGHT WING GLOBAL BANKING 1% CLINTON NEO-LIBERALS IN MICHIGAN.
All we see is promotion of GREEN JOBS in FAKE GLOBAL GREEN CORPORATIONS------promoting GREEN TECHNOLOGY----GREEN ENERGY ----UNITED NATIONS CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY AS ENVIRONMENTAL WHEN IT IS FAR-RIGHT WING GLOBAL BANKING KILLING OUR ENVIRONMENT.
January 6, 2017
Sierra Club Releases Scorecard: State Lawmakers Get Disappointing Grades for 2015-16 Session
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 6, 2017
Contact: Mike Berkowitz, (248) 345-9808, mike.berkowitz@sierraclub.org
Sierra Club: State Lawmakers Get Disappointing Grades in 2015-2016 Legislative Session
Latest scorecard shows legislators failed to protect the environment or grow the green economy
LANSING - The Michigan Senate received a failing grade on the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter’s annual Legislative Scorecard, while the Michigan House didn’t fare much better.
The Scorecard, which tracked environmental voting behavior of state House and Senate members during the 2015-16 legislative session, gave the Senate a failing score of 55 percent, while the House narrowly passed with a score of 61 percent.
While the Scorecard generally showed that Democrats voted to maintain or strengthen environmental protections, Republicans often voted to weaken or eliminate environmental protections – actions that could have a devastating effect on Michigan’s economy.
“The 2015-2016 state Legislature was regressive when it comes to environmental protection, rolling back many of the safeguards we’ve had in place for decades. It’s shameful that the environment has become a partisan political issue,” said Mike Berkowitz, the Michigan Legislative Director for the Sierra Club. “Environmental protections are a no-brainer for all Michigan residents. Our members find it hard to believe that so many of our lawmakers are voting against clean air, clean water, and public health – all of which are vital not only for healthy living but also for a healthy tourism industry, one of the state’s largest economic drivers. We hope that incoming lawmakers will see our scorecard and be motivated to get rid of this anti-environment attitude in the next legislative session.”
The Sierra Club’s Scorecard calculated the results based upon 17 roll call votes in the House and Senate for the 2015-2016 legislative session. According to the Scorecard, House Democrats scored an average of 94 percent, while House Republicans scored an average of 36 percent. Senate Democrats scored an average of 91 percent, while Senate Republicans scored an average of 39 percent. Thirty-three lawmakers scored 100 percent, significantly more than the 2013-14 session when only four lawmakers got a perfect mark.
A full list of “Environmental Champions” (90-100 percent), “Environmental Stewards” (78-89 percent), and “Pollution Promoters” (zero-35 percent) is included at the end of this release.
Sterling Heights state Sen. Tory Rocca (R-10) was the highest scoring Republican with 82 percent, second highest in the GOP was Troy state Rep. Martin Howrylak (R-41) at 71 percent, and third highest was state Sen. Rick Jones (R-24) from Grand Ledge at 59 percent. Representatives Charles Brunner (D-96) and Scott Dianda (D-110) were the lowest scoring House Democrats, receiving a 71 percent. Sen. Virgil Smith (D-4) was the lowest scoring Senate Democrat with a 70 percent (Sen. Ian Conyers got a 50% but it was based on a very small sample size including only 2 votes). The full scorecard is available here. A full description of the bills included in the scorecard is available here.
“Our legislature has the wrong priorities when it comes to protecting Michigan’s environment,” said James D’Amour, a member of Michigan Sierra Club’s Political Committee who was once an active member of the Republican Party. “Clean air and clean water should not be partisan issues. We used to be leaders in making conservation a top priority, but no longer. The direction of the GOP is disappointing and disheartening for Republicans like me who care about protecting the environment while creating green jobs.”
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We will end this week's discussion of global banking 1% FAKE NGOs tied to labor and justice which has these few decades completely corrupted and silenced our REAL left social progressive voice on labor rights, civil rights, environmental rights, rights of disabled, veteran's rights-----because political machines like MOVE ON----created during Clinton era to sell these FAKE Clinton neo-liberals and those far-right wing policies as being LEFT----SOCIAL PROGRESSIVE.
We have no doubt that TEA PARTY will meet MOVE ON because TEA PARTY is far-right wing LIBERTARIAN------KOCH BROTHERS and MOVE ON is far-right wing NEO-LIBERAL global banking 1%. MOVE ON is of course morphing from promoting Clinton neo-liberals to promoting OUR REVOLUTION for only the global 1% far-right wing global corporate SOCIALISM---MARXISM. Ergo, below we see ONE WORLD ONE GOVERNANCE LIBERTARIAN MARXISM.
'Rules of engagement
It was conservative commentator Ralph Benko who introduced Meckler and Blades online. As Meckler recalled Benko saying, "If MoveOn and the Tea Party ever agree on anything, all politicians should watch out." '
Hmmmmm, a Silicon Valley technology MILLIONAIRE pretending to be LEFT social progressive while promoting FAR-RIGHT WING GLOBAL BANKING 1% CLINTON NEO-LIBERALS
'Joan Blades (b. ca. 1956 in Berkeley, California) is an American businessperson and progressive political activist. In 1987, she and her husband Wes Boyd co-founded Berkeley Systems, a San Francisco Bay area software company known for marketing the After Dark screensaver and the You Don't Know Jack trivia game. After selling Berkeley Systems in 1997 for $13.8 million, Blades and Boyd founded the liberal political group MoveOn.org'.
REAL left social progressive DEMOCRATS have known all this since 1990s and have shouted against these far-right wing global banking 1% NGOs-----the tag team above killing both US right wing Republicans AND US left wing DEMOCRATS making sure all third, fourth parties forming are CAPTURED as well.
MoveOn founder, Tea Party figure meet
POLITICS MoveOn, Tea Party members gather, find common groundBy Joe Garofoli
Updated 10:51 pm PST, Thursday, January 17, 2013
MoveOn.org co-founder, Joan Blade, talks to former tea party activist, Mark Meckler, following a "Living Room Conversation" on January 12, 2013 in Berkeley, Calif. Blade hosted the talk, which sought to bring representatives from both sides of the spectrum to seek common ground on issues.
It was a mind-blowing political tableau: a co-founder of liberal bulwark MoveOn sitting in her Berkeley living room, laughing, sharing homemade blueberry scones and occasionally agreeing with a national Tea Party figure.
REMEMBER------FAR-RIGHT WING NEO-liberal is opposite of REAL LEFT social progressive liberal-----don't allow national media and FAKE NGOs confuse this.
Truth is, MoveOn's Joan Blades - clad in Lululemon yoga pants and clogs - and Mark Meckler, sporting a leather cowboy vest, boots and a belt buckle larger than a baby's head - have been talking online and over the phone for a few years now. Quietly, until now.
"Transpartisanship" is the genteel word for what they're doing. Blades has been involved in similar types of projects for about a decade, but this is a fairly new school of political thought, which posits that people can come together to find some common ground without abandoning their core beliefs.
The gathering this month marked the first time Blades and Meckler had met in person, and each brought two like-minded friends. The occasion was the latest installment of Living Room Conversations ( www.livingroomconversations.org), Blades' latest national transpartisan project that she co-founded with former GOP operative Amanda Kathryn Roman, who lives in New Jersey.
It involves one or two co-hosts pulling together an intimate gathering of folks who might believe they agree on little politically - until they sit down together to listen to one another's perspective. Civilly.
Eventually, they find places they agree. That's what happened between Blades and Meckler, and it should give hope to a nation locked in scrums over guns and immigration and taxes.
This living room bonded, even if, as Blades' pal Rodney Ferguson of Oakland said, "I'd never met anybody from the Tea Party before. When Joan said there was going to be one here, I said, 'Oh, hell yes I want to be there.' "
Or, as Meckler's friend Eric Eisenhammer of Roseville gushed deferentially to the soft-spoken Blades: "MoveOn is such an aggressive political organization and you ... you ... don't fit the image of that."
Common ground
The day's assigned topic was "crony capitalism," even though the conversation veered from education to crime reduction. After three hours of watching one another's media caricatures evaporate, the six decided that, for starters, they'd all support reinstating the Glass-Steagall Act.
The Depression-era law prevented commercial banks from getting involved in investment banking, but it was repealed in 1999 during the Clinton administration. The rollback is widely seen as a major contributor to the 2008 financial market crash.
Reinstating Glass-Steagall has an appeal to both the political left and the right because it curbs the power of major Wall Street players that control the nation's politics and finances. Nobody in this living room likes "crony capitalism," and they know why reinstatement hasn't happened.
Too often, outfits like MoveOn and the Tea Party get so wrapped up in beating each other in the partisan, Twitter-driven politics of the moment that they don't take time to see who is picking both of their pockets.
"They all like to pit us against each other," said Meckler, a Grass Valley attorney who was a co-founder and national coordinator of Tea Party Patriots, a national group that had 3,200 chapters at its peak. He left the organization in 2009 but speaks to Tea Party groups and occasionally brawls on MSNBC's "Hardball" as a representative of small government values.
"They don't care about us. They don't care about poor kids. They don't care about small business owners. They're just playing the politics of hate," Meckler said.
Rules of engagement
It was conservative commentator Ralph Benko who introduced Meckler and Blades online. As Meckler recalled Benko saying, "If MoveOn and the Tea Party ever agree on anything, all politicians should watch out."
Blades, who is on the board of MoveOn but no longer involved in its daily activity, smiled at the description. After the session at her home this month, she said, "There is so much that Mark and I may fundamentally disagree on, but he is smart and kind, and I just want to learn more about where he is coming from."
She was the de facto moderator, shepherding the group gently through the Living Room format. First, they introduced themselves, then said what they wanted to get out of the conversation. The program is free, and anyone is permitted to share the information. Blades encourages anyone to expand upon it during their own living room chats.
This conversation was a bit stilted at first, like a battle royale of blind dates stumbling to find common ground.
In introducing herself, Linda Gilbert of Sacramento County, an information technology consultant, small business owner and one of Meckler's Tea Party friends, said, "Government hasn't done anything other than get in the way and deter people from getting things done."
"Did you go to public school?" asked Elisa Batista, a friend of Blades' from Berkeley who publishes the MotherTalkers blog and whose husband, Markos Moulitsas, is the Kos of the powerhouse Daily Kos liberal political blog. "Do the police patrol your streets?"
DAILY KOS IS FAR-RIGHT GLOBAL BANKING 1% CLINTON NEO-LIBERAL MEDIA OUTLET AS WELL----BATISTA.
Casual setting
Awkward? Not here. Batista asked Gilbert that question in a soft, sweet voice, leaning forward over crossed legs. This was a living room, after all. Earlier, they had both shared that their family and faith were the most important things in their lives. The group agreed that many of the differences between them could be bridged through different language choices.
"I learned that I need to broaden my language a little bit more - so I can't say that the government didn't do anything for anybody," Gilbert said after the meeting. "This whole afternoon gave me hope that while we can agree to disagree on some things, there are lot of places where we can agree."
Within half an hour they were rolling. When Gilbert complained about "government regulations" that made it hard for small businesses like hers, Blades agreed.
"I know," Blades said, spreading her hands apart to show how much compliance paperwork she must complete when forming a business.
Three hours after they started, few of the scones that Meckler's wife had baked remained. Perhaps the most poignant sign that the conversation had gone well: Everybody hung around for another 20 minutes to talk - about their families, about crime prevention, about books to share - even after Blades officially ended the session.
Beyond partisan?
Maybe Americans aren't that far apart. A Gallup survey in December found that 36 percent of the respondents identified themselves as "independents" - more than those who said they were Republicans or Democrats.
Or maybe it is the nation's bloody political campaigns that magnify our differences. A Pew Research survey taken last month found that 58 percent of the respondents felt there were "strong" or "very strong" differences between the rich and poor. That's down from 66 percent who felt that way in December 2011, as the election was heating up.
Blades, who has been in her share of bare-knuckled campaigns with MoveOn, acknowledged that "campaigns are adversarial in nature, and I can't do anything about that."
But there is plenty of room for transpartisan agreement, too, Blades said, especially for a country that seems starved for it in the face of tough national debates over guns and spending and immigration.
"And if there's one thing I learned from MoveOn, it is that if it's the right time, right place, these things can take off," Blades said. "This may be the right time."
Today, the term ZERO WASTE is the same far-right wing global banking corruption of what has been our US environmental protections against corporate DUMPING OF TOXIC WASTE in our communities and states. As we saw in yesterday's posts----our grassroots 99% WE THE PEOPLE are working hard to clean communities and install small recycle projects all while global corporations are building infrastructure to DUMP TOXIC WASTE and create FAKE TECHNOLOGY making it appear this waste is being cleanly disposed.
The FAR-RIGHT WING is extremely REPRESSIVE AND REGRESSIVE and the goals of ZERO WASTE has already hit here in Baltimore as global VEOLA water and waste start structuring FEES for waste pick-up always free with property taxes------FEES tied to WEIGH OF WASTE in trash cans-----FINES for those citizens not disposing waste in correct cans------PENALTIES for having too much waste. At the same time far-right wing global banking 1% Baltimore City Council and mayor-----Baltimore Maryland Assembly pols are passing laws advancing US FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES WITH GLOBAL FACTORIES which will allow global corporations to IGNORE ALL THOSE ENVIRONMENTAL/ZERO TOLERANCE laws.
WITH STRONG CORPORATE PARTICIPATION ----
'To a significant degree, zero waste in the U.S. is being driven by regional, state and private initiatives, including strong corporate participation'
'At the time, environmentalists gave the plan mixed reviews. They praised the proposal for expanded recycling but criticized O'Malley's emphasis on increasing the amount of garbage burned to generate energy'.
Former Maryland Gov O'Malley is a raging far-right wing global banking 1% who spent his terms PRETENDING to be environmental while super-sizing the economic and development goals of US FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES, GLOBAL FACTORIES, AND ONE WORLD GOVERNANCE for Baltimore and Maryland which has no intent of being GREEN/ENVIRONMENTAL. So, below we see the tag team of O'Malley/Hogan MOVING FORWARD these same policies now of course there is no ZERO WASTE plan but all those FEES, FINES, PENALTIES tied to our 99% WE THE PEOPLE waste pick-up are MOVING FORWARD.
Hogan cancels O'Malley-era 'zero waste' plan
Michael DresserContact Reporter
The Baltimore Sun jUNE 27, 2017
Gov. Larry Hogan said Tuesday night that he has canceled "zero-waste" landfill rules issued by Gov. Martin O'Malley a week before he left office in 2015.
Speaking to the annual summer gathering of the Maryland Municipal League, the Republican governor said he was rescinding the policy in response to complaints from local governments.
Hogan told the group of town and city officials that his Democratic predecessor's action "usurped local authority" and "created overflowing landfills and unnecessary hardships for local governments."
"We are replacing that last-minute, ill-conceived and poorly devised policy with a common-sense, balanced approach to managing waste in Maryland," he said.
Hogan said his action lifts a moratorium on permits for new landfills and sets "achievable" goals for recycling.
Baltimore City Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke said Hogan ought to reconsider and join other states trying to implement zero-waste policies.
"It sounds as if not only trash but also policy would now be moving in exactly the wrong direction," she said. "I find that an unwise decision, which sounds very Trump-ian, and I hope the governor will reconsider and help us bring Maryland back into its unity with other states across the nation who are trying to save the environment through zero waste policies."
O'Malley adopted the plan with the goal of virtually eliminating the placement of waste in Maryland landfills within 25 years. His administration contended that curbing waste disposal in landfills could save taxpayers money, conserve energy and reduce pollution.
His plan came in response to reports that Marylanders were throwing away more trash per person than the typical American.
In announcing the plan, O'Malley described it as "an ambitious policy framework to create green jobs and business opportunities while doing away with the inefficient waste disposal practices that threaten our future."
The "zero-waste" goal actually called for diverting 85 percent of the trash now going to landfills to other means of disposal by 2040. The plan also called for state government to achieve a mandatory recycling rate of 65 percent by 2020.
At the time, environmentalists gave the plan mixed reviews. They praised the proposal for expanded recycling but criticized O'Malley's emphasis on increasing the amount of garbage burned to generate energy.
In his speech, Hogan decried the O'Malley rule as a "burdensome regulation." Earlier in his administration, Hogan also scrapped O'Malley rules requiring extensive use of the best available technologies for septic systems.
Ben Grumbles, the state secretary of the environment, said the executive order on waste lays out a "collaborative" process that focuses on meeting realistic goals.
He said the policy will focus on reducing, reusing and recycling materials.
The secretary said the administration will not introduce a new rule.
"We're not changing the law but we're changing the policy to be more collaborative," he said.
Grumbles said the new policy will help the state meet its existing recycling goals.
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Here is right wing DAILYCALLER correctly OUTING raging far-right wing global banking 1% MARYLAND GOV O'Malley for touting his true agenda -----Climate change is NATURAL ---not MAN-MADE. This is a global corporate policy stance---and not LEFT ENVIRONMENTAL.
“In terms of natural threats, clearly, it’s climate change. And we have to confront — we have to confront manmade and natural threats,” said O’Malley, a Democrat, clearly distinguishing global warming from man-made threats'.
This article goes on to identify far-right global banking 1% pols equally NON-ENVIRONMENTAL as WVa pols -----quoting individual votes each made to identify them as GREEN. When REAGAN/CLINTON created FAKE GREEN REVOLUTION it also created FAKE ENVIRONMENTAL NGOS to pretend far-right wing policies and pols pushing them were being left environmental .
THAT POLICY OF 'ENVIRONMENTAL SCORE CARD' WAS DRIVEN BY FAKE GREEN REVOLUTION NGOS-----THERE IS NO WAY A FAR-RIGHT WING GLOBAL BANKING CLINTON/OBAMA NEO-LIBERAL CAN BE LEFT ENVIRONMENTAL.
So, Maryland's former Gov O'Malley marketed by FAKE GREEN groups as being environmental while pushing as hard as he can all that US FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONE/GLOBAL FACTORY/ONE WORLD GOVERNANCE that will allow global corporations inside US FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES---to ignore all US environmental laws.
MANCHIN AND HEITKAMP from the most CARBON/FOSSIL FUEL driven states of WVA and ND being sold as 'environmental' because of this one vote
'Last week, Senate Democrats Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota broke ranks and voted against an amendment saying that “climate change is real and caused by human activity and that Congress needs to take action to cut carbon pollution.”'
Martin O’Malley Says Global Warming Is A ‘Natural Threat’, Not ‘Man-Made’
3:31 PM 04/01/2015
Michael Bastasch | Energy Editor
Former Maryland governor and presidential hopeful Martin O’Malley told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos Sunday global warming is the most important “natural threat” facing the U.S.
Calling global warming a “natural threat” distinguishes it from “man-made” threats like a nuclear Iran and Islamic extremism.
“The greatest danger that we face right now on a consistent basis in terms of manmade threats is — is — nuclear Iran and related to that, extremist violence,” O’Malley told Stephanopoulos. “I don’t think you can separate the two. I think they go together.”
“In terms of natural threats, clearly, it’s climate change. And we have to confront — we have to confront manmade and natural threats,” said O’Malley, a Democrat, clearly distinguishing global warming from man-made threats.
O’Malley’s comments are a huge departure from President Barack Obama and his cabinet, who not only call global warming a national security but also say it’s caused by human activity. Obama told Congress that “the Pentagon says that climate change poses immediate risks to our national security. We should act like it.”
“The best scientists in the world are all telling us that our activities are changing the climate, and if we do not act forcefully, we’ll continue to see rising oceans, longer, hotter heat waves, dangerous droughts and floods, and massive disruptions that can trigger greater migration, conflict, and hunger around the globe,” Obama said in his State of the Union speech this year.
O’Malley’s remarks also diverge from potential Democratic presidential opponent Hillary Clinton, who has been clear of her support for regulations to restrict burning fossil fuels — a source of global warming, according to most scientists.
Clinton recently told a gathering of environmentalists that the “science of climate change is unforgiving, no matter what the deniers may say” adding that if “we act decisively now we can still head off the most catastrophic consequences” — referring to Democratic support for regulations to curb burning fossil fuels to stop a “man-made” disaster.
THE CLINTONS----CHAMPION OF GLOBAL BIG AG, GLOBAL FRACKING----BUILDING FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES FILLED WITH GLOBAL FACTORIES----OH, YEAH ONLY BURNING FOSSIL FUELS IS THE PROBLEM WITH CLIMATE CHANGE.
O’Malley already has a troubled relationship with the environmental community due to his decision to allow hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in western Maryland while he was governor. Eco-activists were disappointed the former governor did not ban the practice.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, also a Democratic presidential hopeful, earned praise from environmentalists for banning fracking last year, but has also come under fire for dodging questions on global warming.
“I don’t want to get into a political debate at this time about climate change causes, et cetera,” Cuomo said last year. “Forget the causes. Is it global warming? Is it reliance on fossil fuels? Forget the causes. What is inarguable is the result.”
But are Cuomo and O’Malley simply Democratic outliers when it comes to global warming? Maybe not.
Last week, Senate Democrats Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota broke ranks and voted against an amendment saying that “climate change is real and caused by human activity and that Congress needs to take action to cut carbon pollution.”
Both Manchin and Heitkamp are from energy heavy states. West Virginia is a major coal producer while North Dakota has risen to become the country’s second-largest oil-producing state. Both senators have also opposed Environmental Protection Agency regulations that force states to cut carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.
Manchin and Heitkamp, however, did eventually vote in favor of an alternative global warming amendment that simply related to “responding to the economic and national security threats posed by human-induced climate change.” Both lawmakers also voted for an amendment that blocks the government from slapping a tax on carbon dioxide emissions.
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Here is FAKE left environmental NGO ---LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS-----with a scorecard. SIERRA CLUB and FRIENDS OF EARTH have this same scorecard. Because O'MALLEY pretended to be environmental with WINDMILLS and PRETENDED to be holding back FRACKING in Maryland with FAKE studies-----this global NGO gave O'Malley a GREEN score -----because MANCHIN of WVA voted to designate Climate Change as man-made----this NGO gives MANCHIN A GREEN score. All of the above are raging global banking 1% NEO-LIBERALS pushing US AS A TRIBUTE STATE for all natural resources AND ONE WORLD GOVERNANCE that allows all US laws surrounding environment to be ignored.
We have lots of 99% WE THE PEOPLE especially our young adults as grassroots activists WANTING TO BE LEFT ENVIRONMENTAL yet they are attaching to these FAKE GLOBAL GREEN NGOS. Please stop joining these global banking 1% FAKE LABOR AND JUSTICE NGOs.
The US does not have ANY 'LEFT' Democrats in Senate or House and yet 45% of these far-right wing Clinton/Obama neo-liberals are deemed GREEN.
2017 Scorecard VotesMapChartVotes
Cover
Senate Average 45%
House Average 45%
Here is MARYLAND LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS promoting a FAR-RIGHT WING GLOBAL BANKING 1% candidate as GREEN because he supports ONE ISSUE while he says nothing about STOPPING MOVING FORWARD, ending US FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONE status, stopping the building of global corporate campuses and global factories. NONE of these candidates are GREEN----and none of these candidates are DEMOCRATS. They are all far-right wing global banking NEO-LIBERALS.
While Governor, O'Malley headed THE CHESAPEAKE FOUNDATION ----we have NO faith in DATA coming from NGOs led by far-right wing global banking 1% NEO-LIBERALS.
Spotlight on the candidates for Anne Arundel County Council District 4
The Anne Arundel County Council has seven members. It takes a majority of four votes to pass any bill, including any bill to protect our environment. The Anne Arundel Chapter has endorsed seven candidates for the County Council. We are confident that, if elected, they will give Annapolis a strong conservation majority on the Council. Now we have to get them elected.
This is the latest in a series of emails that focus on each individual candidate. In this edition we will introduce you to Councilman Andrew Pruski, the Democratic candidate for District 4, running for re-election. Councilman Pruski represents District 4, which covers Laurel, Fort Meade, Gambrills, Odenton, North Crofton, Millersville, and Crownsville. Find your County Council District here.
MEET ANDREW PRUSKI
Councilman Andrew Pruski is running for his second term on the Anne Arundel County Council. His public service began at early age as an Eagle Scout and work as a Volunteer for the Veteran's Administration. He is running for re-election to continue his goals of supporting our public schools, public safety, protecting our environment, and supporting locally owned businesses.
Councilman Pruski has been a champion for the environment for many years including his service on the Anne Arundel County Board of Appeals and President of the Four Seasons Community Association. He has fought against the two proposed landfills in West County and supported standing for communities trying to challenge unwanted development projects. There are several notable decisions that Councilman Pruski sided with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and other Environmental Groups.
As a school board member and President of the Anne Arundel County Board of Education, Councilman Pruski led efforts to include environmental literacy in the school system curriculum and was an advocate in forming the Watershed Stewards Academy. He believes that environmental education is critical to the future of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.
Councilman Pruski wants to play an integral role in the next General Development Plan by holding open and transparent public hearings to help make wise land use decisions. Councilman Pruski has been an advocate for involving the community in development decisions and promoting policies to protect our environment. His record speaks for itself, he has voted to keep the stormwater remediation fund, ban coal tar, and ban polystyrene foam in Anne Arundel County.
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'A full list of “Environmental Champions” (90-100 percent), “Environmental Stewards” (78-89 percent), and “Pollution Promoters” (zero-35 percent) is included at the end of this release'.
Michigan is where FOXCONN is MOVING FORWARD as fast as it can. MICHIGAN has global VEOLA ENVIRONMENTAL
'AG - Schuette Files Civil Suit against Veolia and LAN for ...
www. michigan .gov › … › Meet Bill › Media › Press Releases
The suit will hold multinational water engineering services corporation Veolia accountable for professional negligence and fraud, which caused Flint’s lead poisoning problem to continue and worsen, and created an ongoing public nuisance'.
As here in Maryland, there is NO MENTION of BALTIMORE'S public water and waste having been privatized a few decades ago to GLOBAL VEOLA ENVIRONMENTAL WATER AND WASTE with Baltimore 99% of citizens having these same problems MICHIGAN is having for the same reasons. Global corporations are attached to all states surrounding GREAT LAKES----ready to drain that last fresh water resource to fuel all those GLOBAL FACTORIES LIKE FOXCONN and yet----we here nothing from SIERRA CLUB/LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS/FRIENDS OF EARTH about these GORILLA-IN-ROOM environmental issues.
THERE ARE NOTHING BUT FAR-RIGHT WING GLOBAL BANKING 1% CLINTON NEO-LIBERALS IN MICHIGAN.
All we see is promotion of GREEN JOBS in FAKE GLOBAL GREEN CORPORATIONS------promoting GREEN TECHNOLOGY----GREEN ENERGY ----UNITED NATIONS CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY AS ENVIRONMENTAL WHEN IT IS FAR-RIGHT WING GLOBAL BANKING KILLING OUR ENVIRONMENT.
January 6, 2017
Sierra Club Releases Scorecard: State Lawmakers Get Disappointing Grades for 2015-16 Session
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 6, 2017
Contact: Mike Berkowitz, (248) 345-9808, mike.berkowitz@sierraclub.org
Sierra Club: State Lawmakers Get Disappointing Grades in 2015-2016 Legislative Session
Latest scorecard shows legislators failed to protect the environment or grow the green economy
LANSING - The Michigan Senate received a failing grade on the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter’s annual Legislative Scorecard, while the Michigan House didn’t fare much better.
The Scorecard, which tracked environmental voting behavior of state House and Senate members during the 2015-16 legislative session, gave the Senate a failing score of 55 percent, while the House narrowly passed with a score of 61 percent.
While the Scorecard generally showed that Democrats voted to maintain or strengthen environmental protections, Republicans often voted to weaken or eliminate environmental protections – actions that could have a devastating effect on Michigan’s economy.
“The 2015-2016 state Legislature was regressive when it comes to environmental protection, rolling back many of the safeguards we’ve had in place for decades. It’s shameful that the environment has become a partisan political issue,” said Mike Berkowitz, the Michigan Legislative Director for the Sierra Club. “Environmental protections are a no-brainer for all Michigan residents. Our members find it hard to believe that so many of our lawmakers are voting against clean air, clean water, and public health – all of which are vital not only for healthy living but also for a healthy tourism industry, one of the state’s largest economic drivers. We hope that incoming lawmakers will see our scorecard and be motivated to get rid of this anti-environment attitude in the next legislative session.”
The Sierra Club’s Scorecard calculated the results based upon 17 roll call votes in the House and Senate for the 2015-2016 legislative session. According to the Scorecard, House Democrats scored an average of 94 percent, while House Republicans scored an average of 36 percent. Senate Democrats scored an average of 91 percent, while Senate Republicans scored an average of 39 percent. Thirty-three lawmakers scored 100 percent, significantly more than the 2013-14 session when only four lawmakers got a perfect mark.
A full list of “Environmental Champions” (90-100 percent), “Environmental Stewards” (78-89 percent), and “Pollution Promoters” (zero-35 percent) is included at the end of this release.
Sterling Heights state Sen. Tory Rocca (R-10) was the highest scoring Republican with 82 percent, second highest in the GOP was Troy state Rep. Martin Howrylak (R-41) at 71 percent, and third highest was state Sen. Rick Jones (R-24) from Grand Ledge at 59 percent. Representatives Charles Brunner (D-96) and Scott Dianda (D-110) were the lowest scoring House Democrats, receiving a 71 percent. Sen. Virgil Smith (D-4) was the lowest scoring Senate Democrat with a 70 percent (Sen. Ian Conyers got a 50% but it was based on a very small sample size including only 2 votes). The full scorecard is available here. A full description of the bills included in the scorecard is available here.
“Our legislature has the wrong priorities when it comes to protecting Michigan’s environment,” said James D’Amour, a member of Michigan Sierra Club’s Political Committee who was once an active member of the Republican Party. “Clean air and clean water should not be partisan issues. We used to be leaders in making conservation a top priority, but no longer. The direction of the GOP is disappointing and disheartening for Republicans like me who care about protecting the environment while creating green jobs.”
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We will end this week's discussion of global banking 1% FAKE NGOs tied to labor and justice which has these few decades completely corrupted and silenced our REAL left social progressive voice on labor rights, civil rights, environmental rights, rights of disabled, veteran's rights-----because political machines like MOVE ON----created during Clinton era to sell these FAKE Clinton neo-liberals and those far-right wing policies as being LEFT----SOCIAL PROGRESSIVE.
We have no doubt that TEA PARTY will meet MOVE ON because TEA PARTY is far-right wing LIBERTARIAN------KOCH BROTHERS and MOVE ON is far-right wing NEO-LIBERAL global banking 1%. MOVE ON is of course morphing from promoting Clinton neo-liberals to promoting OUR REVOLUTION for only the global 1% far-right wing global corporate SOCIALISM---MARXISM. Ergo, below we see ONE WORLD ONE GOVERNANCE LIBERTARIAN MARXISM.
'Rules of engagement
It was conservative commentator Ralph Benko who introduced Meckler and Blades online. As Meckler recalled Benko saying, "If MoveOn and the Tea Party ever agree on anything, all politicians should watch out." '
Hmmmmm, a Silicon Valley technology MILLIONAIRE pretending to be LEFT social progressive while promoting FAR-RIGHT WING GLOBAL BANKING 1% CLINTON NEO-LIBERALS
'Joan Blades (b. ca. 1956 in Berkeley, California) is an American businessperson and progressive political activist. In 1987, she and her husband Wes Boyd co-founded Berkeley Systems, a San Francisco Bay area software company known for marketing the After Dark screensaver and the You Don't Know Jack trivia game. After selling Berkeley Systems in 1997 for $13.8 million, Blades and Boyd founded the liberal political group MoveOn.org'.
REAL left social progressive DEMOCRATS have known all this since 1990s and have shouted against these far-right wing global banking 1% NGOs-----the tag team above killing both US right wing Republicans AND US left wing DEMOCRATS making sure all third, fourth parties forming are CAPTURED as well.
MoveOn founder, Tea Party figure meet
POLITICS MoveOn, Tea Party members gather, find common groundBy Joe Garofoli
Updated 10:51 pm PST, Thursday, January 17, 2013
MoveOn.org co-founder, Joan Blade, talks to former tea party activist, Mark Meckler, following a "Living Room Conversation" on January 12, 2013 in Berkeley, Calif. Blade hosted the talk, which sought to bring representatives from both sides of the spectrum to seek common ground on issues.
It was a mind-blowing political tableau: a co-founder of liberal bulwark MoveOn sitting in her Berkeley living room, laughing, sharing homemade blueberry scones and occasionally agreeing with a national Tea Party figure.
REMEMBER------FAR-RIGHT WING NEO-liberal is opposite of REAL LEFT social progressive liberal-----don't allow national media and FAKE NGOs confuse this.
Truth is, MoveOn's Joan Blades - clad in Lululemon yoga pants and clogs - and Mark Meckler, sporting a leather cowboy vest, boots and a belt buckle larger than a baby's head - have been talking online and over the phone for a few years now. Quietly, until now.
"Transpartisanship" is the genteel word for what they're doing. Blades has been involved in similar types of projects for about a decade, but this is a fairly new school of political thought, which posits that people can come together to find some common ground without abandoning their core beliefs.
The gathering this month marked the first time Blades and Meckler had met in person, and each brought two like-minded friends. The occasion was the latest installment of Living Room Conversations ( www.livingroomconversations.org), Blades' latest national transpartisan project that she co-founded with former GOP operative Amanda Kathryn Roman, who lives in New Jersey.
It involves one or two co-hosts pulling together an intimate gathering of folks who might believe they agree on little politically - until they sit down together to listen to one another's perspective. Civilly.
Eventually, they find places they agree. That's what happened between Blades and Meckler, and it should give hope to a nation locked in scrums over guns and immigration and taxes.
This living room bonded, even if, as Blades' pal Rodney Ferguson of Oakland said, "I'd never met anybody from the Tea Party before. When Joan said there was going to be one here, I said, 'Oh, hell yes I want to be there.' "
Or, as Meckler's friend Eric Eisenhammer of Roseville gushed deferentially to the soft-spoken Blades: "MoveOn is such an aggressive political organization and you ... you ... don't fit the image of that."
Common ground
The day's assigned topic was "crony capitalism," even though the conversation veered from education to crime reduction. After three hours of watching one another's media caricatures evaporate, the six decided that, for starters, they'd all support reinstating the Glass-Steagall Act.
The Depression-era law prevented commercial banks from getting involved in investment banking, but it was repealed in 1999 during the Clinton administration. The rollback is widely seen as a major contributor to the 2008 financial market crash.
Reinstating Glass-Steagall has an appeal to both the political left and the right because it curbs the power of major Wall Street players that control the nation's politics and finances. Nobody in this living room likes "crony capitalism," and they know why reinstatement hasn't happened.
Too often, outfits like MoveOn and the Tea Party get so wrapped up in beating each other in the partisan, Twitter-driven politics of the moment that they don't take time to see who is picking both of their pockets.
"They all like to pit us against each other," said Meckler, a Grass Valley attorney who was a co-founder and national coordinator of Tea Party Patriots, a national group that had 3,200 chapters at its peak. He left the organization in 2009 but speaks to Tea Party groups and occasionally brawls on MSNBC's "Hardball" as a representative of small government values.
"They don't care about us. They don't care about poor kids. They don't care about small business owners. They're just playing the politics of hate," Meckler said.
Rules of engagement
It was conservative commentator Ralph Benko who introduced Meckler and Blades online. As Meckler recalled Benko saying, "If MoveOn and the Tea Party ever agree on anything, all politicians should watch out."
Blades, who is on the board of MoveOn but no longer involved in its daily activity, smiled at the description. After the session at her home this month, she said, "There is so much that Mark and I may fundamentally disagree on, but he is smart and kind, and I just want to learn more about where he is coming from."
She was the de facto moderator, shepherding the group gently through the Living Room format. First, they introduced themselves, then said what they wanted to get out of the conversation. The program is free, and anyone is permitted to share the information. Blades encourages anyone to expand upon it during their own living room chats.
This conversation was a bit stilted at first, like a battle royale of blind dates stumbling to find common ground.
In introducing herself, Linda Gilbert of Sacramento County, an information technology consultant, small business owner and one of Meckler's Tea Party friends, said, "Government hasn't done anything other than get in the way and deter people from getting things done."
"Did you go to public school?" asked Elisa Batista, a friend of Blades' from Berkeley who publishes the MotherTalkers blog and whose husband, Markos Moulitsas, is the Kos of the powerhouse Daily Kos liberal political blog. "Do the police patrol your streets?"
DAILY KOS IS FAR-RIGHT GLOBAL BANKING 1% CLINTON NEO-LIBERAL MEDIA OUTLET AS WELL----BATISTA.
Casual setting
Awkward? Not here. Batista asked Gilbert that question in a soft, sweet voice, leaning forward over crossed legs. This was a living room, after all. Earlier, they had both shared that their family and faith were the most important things in their lives. The group agreed that many of the differences between them could be bridged through different language choices.
"I learned that I need to broaden my language a little bit more - so I can't say that the government didn't do anything for anybody," Gilbert said after the meeting. "This whole afternoon gave me hope that while we can agree to disagree on some things, there are lot of places where we can agree."
Within half an hour they were rolling. When Gilbert complained about "government regulations" that made it hard for small businesses like hers, Blades agreed.
"I know," Blades said, spreading her hands apart to show how much compliance paperwork she must complete when forming a business.
Three hours after they started, few of the scones that Meckler's wife had baked remained. Perhaps the most poignant sign that the conversation had gone well: Everybody hung around for another 20 minutes to talk - about their families, about crime prevention, about books to share - even after Blades officially ended the session.
Beyond partisan?
Maybe Americans aren't that far apart. A Gallup survey in December found that 36 percent of the respondents identified themselves as "independents" - more than those who said they were Republicans or Democrats.
Or maybe it is the nation's bloody political campaigns that magnify our differences. A Pew Research survey taken last month found that 58 percent of the respondents felt there were "strong" or "very strong" differences between the rich and poor. That's down from 66 percent who felt that way in December 2011, as the election was heating up.
Blades, who has been in her share of bare-knuckled campaigns with MoveOn, acknowledged that "campaigns are adversarial in nature, and I can't do anything about that."
But there is plenty of room for transpartisan agreement, too, Blades said, especially for a country that seems starved for it in the face of tough national debates over guns and spending and immigration.
"And if there's one thing I learned from MoveOn, it is that if it's the right time, right place, these things can take off," Blades said. "This may be the right time."
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