The US House of Representatives passed a $1.1 trillion, 1603-page spending bill late last night, 219-209. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) led the fight against passage, asking if Congress was representing Wall Street or representing the people. She said the bill represented “the worst of government for the rich and the powerful”. The bill contains a provision that weakens the Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Act by easing restrictions on banks, which ultimately contributed to the financial debacle of 2008.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) took to the floor to denounce the bill saying members were being blackmailed to pass the measure in the closing hours of the session with the threat of a government shut-down. The bill was passed within 3 hours of the deadline.

The bill contains many provisions impacting millions of people. It includes the Hyde Amendment, which bans spending federal dollars on abortion, and it includes provisions spending $5 million and upwards to $12-15 million more for ineffectual and harmful abstinence-only education. But it also contains level funding for the Teen Pregnancy Initiative which covers comprehensive family planning education at $101 million.

One of the most controversial aspects of the legislation is that it includes language that could result in cuts to pensions for millions of retired workers under the age of 75 years and even minimal cuts to those over 75.. It allows cuts to multi-employer underfunded pensions plans usually sponsored by employers and unions. It allows the plans to cut benefits well before they reach insolvency. The teamsters claim that one of the proposed revisions could save UPS $2 billion. Some pensioners could lose as much as a half to two-thirds of their pension.

This pension cutting provision is supported by both Democrats and Republicans and some unions and employers. AARP and the Pension Rights Center among other advocacy groups opposed it. Karen Friedman, the pension rights center policy director, warned “this sets a precedent for cutting social security and senior employer plans.”

A provision having nothing to do with government spending was included allowing wealthy individuals to increase their contributions to national political party committees from a maximum of $97,200 in 2014 to possibly as much as $777,600. Calculations differ, but the increase is substantial, giving more power, as if they needed it, to wealthy donors. The citizens united Supreme Court decision, allows individuals to give to non-profit independent expenditure campaigns unlimited secret funds. One can argue this provision provides more power to political parties in fighting groups like the Koch brother’s Americans for Prosperity.

The families of Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, Akai Gurley, Tamir Rice, and Reverend Al Sharpton will be marching in Washington, DC tomorrow to call for an end to police violence.

A coalition of civil rights groups led by Reverend Al Sharpton at the National Action Network organized the “Justice for All” march, which will begin at Freedom Plaza at noon on Saturday, December 13, and proceeds down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol. The Justice for All march, announced on Wednesday, is not expected to have record-setting numbers, but to make a strong national statement in support of street demonstrations nation-wide. Charter buses, however, are coming from many cities and states across the east coast.

Those participating in the march are calling on Congress to take legislative action to combat racial profiling, and police discrimination and violence. For more information on the march and how to get involved, visit the National Action Network’s webpage.

The Senate denied a vote for the Military Justice Improvement Act yesterday, blocking the act for the second time this year.

A bipartisan group of senators approached the senate floor yesterday to push for the Military Justice Improvement Act (MJIA), spearheaded by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY). Gillibrand was hoping the Act would be added as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, but said that she will push for it as a stand-alone bill, and is even prepared to urge President Obama to take executive action. The bill is hoping to combat recently released data from a Pentagon report showing little progress over the past year in preventing sexual assault in the military, making it easier for survivors to report assault, and eliminating retaliation for those who do report. The bill fell short of being passed by only five votes earlier this year.

The MJIA would move the decision to prosecute military sexual assault outside the chain of command and give it to trained, independent professional military prosecutors. “The Department of Defense has failed on this issue for over 20 years now,” Senator Gillibrand said yesterday, “and the data shows they still don’t get it.” She continued “Why should our service members enjoy a lesser standard of justice and fairness than you and I, whose freedoms they risk everything to protect?”

The need for reform was emphasized by Col. Don Christensen (Ret.), former Chief Prosecutor of the Air Force, who called the current process an “ineffective, broken system of justice,” that “undermines the military I love.” Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) agreed, saying “What we’re doing now is not working.”

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who led the objection to the bill, said he feared that it would undermine the authority of commanders in the military, although Sen. Gillibrand clarified that this bill would only affect the top 3 percent of commanders.

Through December 12, policymakers representing at least 195 countries are in Lima, Peru for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) COP20 (Conference of the Parties). The talks are a continuation of the UN Climate Summit in New York earlier this year, and a precursor to the 2015 climate meeting in Paris, where these world leaders are expected to finalize a new global climate agreement. Friday, the Climate Action Network (CAN), a civil society member of the UNFCCC’s Women and Gender Constituency (WGC), issued an assessment of the gender gap facing the ongoing global climate discussions.

In the Lima edition of the ECO newsletter, CAN acknowledged the COP20 President’s stated intent to advance “gender-responsive climate policy,” but called on the body to codify those commitments into the actual convention. The Women and Gender Constituency is a coalition of civil society organizations that participates in the COP meetings. The WGC is working to ensure women’s rights and gender justice are central elements of the final UNFCCC agreement.

In a statement released Wednesday, the WGC stated that one of their two primary concerns is the development of a climate plan that includes a measure for gender equality. On the first day of COP20 talks, Carmen Capriles of Reaccion Climatica in Bolivia, addressed the larger delegation on behalf of the WGC. “In regions like ours here in Latin America, where women are distinguished by their triple work days; as heads of household, as mothers and as fundamental players in the economy, it is important to recognize that their livelihoods are being affected [by climate change]…which is compounded by poor access to resources and land, lack of education, and lack of access to decision-making,” Capriles said. “This reality has caused women to be on the frontlines of climate action.”

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations reports that women produce more than half of all the food grown in the world, and women are responsible for some 60 to 80 percent of food production in most developing countries. According to a 2009 Resource Guide on Gender and Climate Change, the UN Development Programme determined that “poor women’s limited access to resources, restricted rights, limited mobility, and muted voices in shaping decisions make them highly vulnerable to climate change.” Despite their leadership and expert natural resource management and conservation, Indigenous women throughout the world are the first line of defense when extreme weather events and natural disasters happen, yet there is no formalized emergency response mechanism or communication system to reach them. The UNDP also cited how restrictions that aim to limit the mobility of girls and women can endanger those needing access to shelter or medical attention in a disaster emergency, but without gender-conscious climate policy, there is no account for such nuance.

Mrinalini Rai, representing the Global Forest Coalition, another member of the WGC, demanded that the 2015 talks in Paris be transparent, people-centered negotiations. “This includes women, youth, Indigenous peoples, and local communities, with considerable expertise to be found in each of the constituencies represented here in Lima, Rai told the larger body last week. “This is the right moment to set the bar high and ensure that future climate policies take into account the rights, needs, perspectives, capacities and expertise of women and men alike, in order to achieve truly sustainable development and avert the climate crisis.”