Now more than ever, we need to implement the solutions and technology that exist today to start saving oil. Making our cars and trucks go farther on a gallon of gas is the biggest single step we can take to cut our crippling dependence on oil and curb global warming. Ford and other automakers have the technology to make new cars, SUVs and pickup trucks average 40 miles per gallon - 66% further on a gallon of gas.

Please take a moment to call and ask Ford Motor Company to do its part to cut America's reliance on oil by boosting the fuel economy of new cars, SUVs and pickup trucks to 40 miles per gallon.

You can call Ford using their toll-free customer service number at 1-800-392-3673, then press 3 and at the next prompt press either 1 or 2. When a customer service representative comes on the phone, tell them that Ford needs to use existing technology to make cars and trucks go further on a gallon of gas. Here's a sample message you can leave:

"Hi, my name is _____ and I'm calling to urge Ford Motor Company to raise the average fuel economy of its vehicles to 40 miles per gallon. Using existing

Last October, the New York Times reported that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld ordered the military’s regional commanders to rewrite all of their war plans to capitalize on precision weapons, better intelligence and speedier deployment in the event the United States decided to invade Iraq. That war plan, which Rumsfeld helped shape, has now failed and has led to deep divisions between military commanders and the defense secretary, according to news reports.   

Despite Rumsfeld’s recent denials that he did not override requests by military brass to deploy more ground troops in Iraq, he told the Times last year that the cornerstone of the war plan against Iraq was to use fewer ground troops, a move that caused consternation among some in the military who said concern for the troops requires overwhelming numerical superiority to assure victory, the Times reported in its Oct. 13, 2002 edition.   

These officers said they view Rumsfeld's approach as injecting too much risk into war planning and have said it could result in U.S. casualties that might be prevented by amassing larger forces.   

The Issue:
On May 9, 2001, President George W. Bush has nominated Jeffrey S. Sutton, of Ohio, to serve on the Sixth circuit court of Appeals, which hears cases from Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee.

The ISSUE:
Despite the fact that equal opportunity programs, such as affirmative action, have proven to be an effective tool that gives qualified individuals equal access to participate and contribute; access that has been historically denied, they have come under attack again in recent years. Most recently, the US Supreme Court agreed to hear in April a case attacking the equal opportunity admissions program at the University of Michigan law school. Unfortunately, President Bush has announced that he intends to file a brief in support of the plaintiff’s case and against the University’s affirmative action program.

The fact of the matter is that our nation still needs equal opportunity programs in education, employment and contracting. Approximately 18% of all college students are African American, Latino, or American Indian compared with 28% of the college age population. African American men and women comprise less than 2.5% of total employment in the top jobs in the private sector. Based on their number, minority-owned firms received only 57 cents for every federal dollar they would be expected to receive if they were not a minority-owned firm.

James Coleman, Chair of the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities, testified before Congress on June 20 urging reform: “When the criminal justice system wrongfully sends an innocent person to prison or death row, it threatens all of us. The unimaginable horror of the execution of an innocent person should give us all the resolve to do what is necessary to fix what now clearly is a broken system.”