This isn't about Parties.

The subject of Cloture is coming up in the Senate very soon.  This term may be new to you, but the concept most likely is not.  Cloture is what is needed to end a filibuster.  In case you don't know what a filibuster is:



–noun

     1.  U.S. Politics.

• the use of irregular or obstructive tactics by a member of a legislative assembly to prevent the adoption of a measure generally favored or to force a decision against the will of the majority.
• an exceptionally long speech, as one lasting for a day or days, or a series of such speeches to accomplish this purpose.
• a member of a legislature who makes such a speech.

     2.  an irregular military adventurer, especially one who engages in an unauthorized military expedition into a foreign country to foment or support a revolution.




At this time a vote of 60 (out of 100) is needed to end a filibuster, which is what Cloture is.  This has caused many bills to get stalled in the past and is a tool used to coerce other Senators into voting in a way that betrays their beliefs (at times).

The proposal is to change the vote to 51 (a simple majority) and dispense with the filibuster so our law makers can focus on their real job:  Serving the People.

Check out these articles:

ACTION ALERT: Senate Reform Possible on January 5th

The Committee To Save The Senate

Contact your Senators here.

This is about government reform, not about Republicans and Democrats.  This is about majority rule.  This is about Democracy.

This is about The United States of America!

Your Internet is Dying:

A Look At Net-Neutrality

Definition

What net neutrality means is to prohibit providers of Internet service from filtering the delivery of the Internet. That's it! Keep it the way we have it, the way we like it! The opposition claims the opposite: Any regulation of the Internet is "anti-business". Ironically, net-neutrality isn't about regulating the Internet, it's about regulating the providers of the Internet.

Risk

Without fairness and equal opportunities we will sacrifice much of what makes our country great. If Internet providers regulate which websites are delivered and how well, competition on-line will be completely unfair. Companies like Skype, Google, Netflix, Amazon, Apple(iTunes), and so on, stand to profit disgustingly if they could control how well their competitors websites were delivered. Many of these large, net-based companies are partners already. Acquisitions take place daily. Use your imagination.

Pornography

I don't know where it will lead, but I know that the Internet was meant to be open. It was meant to be an uncontrolled melting pot. So what if there are websites with porn on them? I don't care about that, and that is certainly not why I am so concerned. Ironically, those are precisely the kinds of sites that won't be harmed by a non-neutral Internet A vast amount of the revenue on-line comes from pornography.

Naughty Google

If corporations have the ability to control which websites make it and which ones don't, you can bet that one company (almost certainly Google) will end up owning the entire Internet. Think about it, they already have huge advantages:

1. A BOATLOAD of money.
2. Tremendous on-line clout.
3. They own “search”.
4. They already control a staggering amount of traffic on the net.
5. They were very involved with the formulation of the new policy.
6. They own more information than any one entity should.

Remember when Google used to be cool. All about “Free” and “Open”.

Dream

I believe that the Internet can help us find solutions to the numerous problems we face within humankind. If this *VERY* used form of communication (broadband) begins to be colored and filtered by the very people that stand to profit immensely from doing so, you can bet that they will.

Imagine

What opponents of net-neutrality intend to do is synonymous with a company that owned all of the roads and were to decide which ones to pave and which ones to put up road-blocks on, and never finish the construction. Traffic to some businesses would be so frustrating that they simply would not survive. People would not have the patience to tolerate it. People don't have patience. How does that sound?


Call or write your representative. Do it now. If not for yourself, do it for your children, their children and their children. This is not okay. Spread the word! Help me out! I can't do it without you.


Here is the link (don't worry about your 4-digit zip code extension):

Contact your Representative


AND YOUR SENATORS!


It only takes a couple of minutes.

Feel free to use this message:

Please support Internet neutrality to its full extent. The Internet must remain open in order to allow businesses to compete fairly in a forum that is extremely important and viable. Allowing companies to disrupt the delivery of Internet content is a violation of liberties that I, as a United States citizen, will not stand for. It is like putting up road-blocks to competitors businesses and violates fundamental ideas about what being an American is.

Other articles on net-neutrality:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/posttech/2010/12/fcc_chair_announces_net_neutra.html


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/01/fcc-net-neutrality_n_790237.html