Your 5 Minute Activist Links for April 14, 2008

** Environmental Defense **
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers wants to build the world's largest hydraulic pumping plant in one of the most sparsely populated regions in the state of Mississippi.

In a throwback to another era and contrary to federal policy, the Corps would use the Yazoo Pumps to drain wetlands so agribusiness can intensify production to reap more farm subsidy payments.

The Yazoo Pumps project would waste $220 million in taxpayer money, drain and damage more than 200,000 acres of wetlands in the heart of the Mississippi River flyway and ruin some of the richest natural resources in the nation.

An EPA veto would put an end to this harmful plan. Send an email today! Help protect these precious Mississippi wetlands once and for all.

** Working Families **
Just about any way you look at it, runaway pay packages led CEOs to take on excessive risk and are one of the real causes of the mortgage crisis.

Too often, compensation programs encouraged top corporate executives to maximize short-term financial gains at the expense of long-term sustainability. In effect, boards of directors rewarded their CEOs for generating financial results that were often based on taking on irresponsible levels of subprime mortgage risk.

1) Click here to tell your representative and senators to help homeowners affected by the irresponsible corporate lending practices that led to the mortgage meltdown.



2) Click here to urge your senators to support giving shareholders a say on CEO pay.


** American Civil Liberties Union **
For the first time, George W. Bush acknowledged that he knew his top national security advisers discussed and approved specific details of the CIA’s use of torture. “I’m aware that our national security team met on this issue and I approved,” he said. He also defended the use of waterboarding -- simulated drowning where the victim feels like they are about to die.

Congress should long ago have gotten to the bottom of which top officials approved, condoned and authorized U.S. involvement in torture. But, now that the President has admitted to a policy of top-down torture, the ACLU is calling on Congress to demand an independent prosecutor to investigate possible violations of the War Crimes Act, the federal Anti-Torture Act and federal assault laws.

Tell your members of Congress: Don’t look the other way on torture.


** Vote Vets **
Take a moment today to use our website to write a letter to your own senators and representative, urging them to back a new GI Bill. We've drafted some text for you, so all you need to do is enter your name and information, and click.

TELL CONGRESS TO RESTORE AMERICA'S PROMISE TO ITS TROOPS