Rushed legislation will subvert popular labor, media rules (Moveon.org Activism Alert)

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- President Bush and the GOP leadership are suddenly pushing through Congress the biggest spending bill in history, the $820 billion "Omnibus" bill. In this bill are two hidden clauses that reverse important victories on which the voices of millions of Americans were heard: Protecting overtime pay and stopping media consolidation.

You see, the Republicans have this thing about speeding bills through so people cannot have the time to digest what is in them. They did it in Colorado and Texas and were successful at it so they keep doing it.

People should know the truth about the GOP's underhanded reasons for rushing this bill.

Hidden Clause No. 1: The GOP is trying to erode the 40-hour work-week by stripping away overtime pay protection for millions of American workers. Truth of the matter is, cutting overtime pay would transfer tens of billions of dollars from paychecks of the hardest-working American families to the pockets of Bush and GOP friends and campaign contributors.

Also, I don't know about you, but I don't want to take a job and have my employer order me to work three extra hours that evening because the company needs it. I would have to do this just to keep the job, and I wouldn't get paid anything for the work.

Hidden Clause No. 2: The GOP is also trying to overturn recent congressional legislation which blocked the Federal Communications Commission from implementing new rules allowing foreign ownership of our media as well as increasing the percentage of the media one company can control. This will allow diluted news outlets that will jeopardize American democracy.

Bush and the GOP are also squeezing in other egregious items, such as a federally funded school voucher program, a shortfall in school funding of $1 billion and, they're scrapping an unemployment insurance extension for millions of unemployed workers.

I mean, think about it: Why would there be a clause in a spending bill that cuts overtime and allows larger foreign ownership of the media? Shouldn't this be in a labor bill and a communications bill? What else is the GOP and Bush hiding from the American public?

We have very little time to let the GOP know we are adamantly against this bill.

Go to www.moveon.org to sign a petition against the Omnibus bill. Call your local congressional representative. Tell your friends, your neighbors, your professors and your students to do the same. The best way to stop this is to let your representative know how you feel about the issue. They won't pass legislation if the whole country is telling them not to.

First, I would have to see the specific parts of the bill myself before I could agree. Explanations by outside parties as to what they 'think' items in the bill mean, mean nothing, especially when I detect a HATE BUSH/HATE REPUBLICANS, IT's ALL THEIR FAULT attitude on the part of the explainer.

Second is this: Hidden Clause No. 2: The GOP is also trying to overturn recent congressional legislation which blocked the Federal Communications Commission from implementing new rules allowing foreign ownership of our media as well as increasing the percentage of the media one company can control. This will allow diluted news outlets that will jeopardize American democracy.

Sorry, our 'media' is foreign owned, and the percentage of the media one company controls in reality is about 99%. Also, the words 'diluted news outlets' refers to the freedom to have different views and opinions expressed in the news, which the writer of the article is against. The writer, and the owners of the media currently, prefer it the way it is now. 99% of the news is taken from a single source. You can tell this if you watch ABC NBC CBS. You hear the newscasters repeating the same stories word for word. The only thing 'diluted' news would do is jeapordize the Democratic Party Leaders, not Democracy.

Moveon.org is a PAC. The information they provide is hardly from an unbiased viewpoint.

Useful idiots that listen to their drumbeat will lead us to socialism.

What ever happened to "censure and move on"?

Thank you , but I am completely aware of what MoveOn is all about. Same as ACT, and many other popular, but misled and crime backed organizations.

I was merely responding to the comments made in the article and refuting them, as this is what FR is for.

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