The holidays are almost upon us, but things here in Washington, D.C. are still buzzing. Congress is still in town, arguing about the payroll tax. Federal agencies are still doing their work.
And Public Citizen is still focusing on representing you – the public – in the halls of power.
Here’s what’s on tap this week (that we know about – things always crop up unexpectedly!):
We continue to ramp up for Jan. 21, the two-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling, which let corporations spend unlimited sums to influence elections. Sign up to host an event in your community on Jan. 21 and help build momentum to pass a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United. Or, join or host a house party!
Speaking of constitutional amendments, on Tuesday, the Oakland City Council is going to vote on whether to support a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United. We’ll be issuing a statement urging the Council to go forward.
Also this week, we’ll be petitioning to have a dangerous medical device removed from the market. This one is really bad – it has killed many of the people in which it has been implanted.
And we’ll be sending letters about commercial advertising to two more jurisdictions this week. You can get more details here.
On the environmental front, the Environmental Protection Agency is scheduled today to issue its much-anticipated rule limiting mercury emissions. That’s a huge issue in Texas, six of the top 10 worst mercury-emitting power plants in the nation are located, and where nearly two dozen lakes near coal plants are so contaminated with mercury that eating fish from those lakes could cause brain damage to unborn children. Our staffers in Austin have been doing a lot of good advocacy work on this issue. Watch this space for reaction.
