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PDA AZ Chapters Endorse David Schapira for Congress

Thursday, 17 May 2012 12:52 Last Updated on Thursday, 17 May 2012 13:17 Written by Mike Hersh

David-Schapira

On Tuesday, two local Chapters of the Progressive Democrats of America--Phoenix and the East Valley--endorsed Arizona State Senate Democratic Leader David Schapira for Congress. David is running in Arizona’s Ninth District. This is the first step toward earning a PDA National endorsement.

Dan O’Neal, PDA Arizona State Co-Coordinator said, “Congressional District Nine presents Democrats with a unique opportunity to send a leader to Washington. A leader who will be a champion on the issues important to PDA and our community. Based on his record in the Arizona Legislature, there is no question that David is that leader." He continued, “With David’s leadership, Congress will make progress on the key issues of war and peace, jobs, healthcare, comprehensive immigration reform, the environment, and--most importantly--education. We are proud to support David in AZ-09, and are excited to do our part mobilizing support for him.”

The endorsement from PDA’s 2 local chapters comes three weeks after David earned a key endorsement from Arizona Congressman and Congressional Progressive Caucus Co-Chair Raul Grijalva, who is also a member of PDA’s National Advisory Board.

Rep. Grijalva said, “Voters are looking for candidates who stand up for what they believe in and can win, not by hiding their values, but by sharing them with voters. David is that candidate.” The Congressman added, “In the Arizona Legislature, David has been a leader in fighting for jobs and the middle class, protecting the environment and stopping terrible bills. Arizona will be well-served by having David in Congress.”

David Schapira is currently the Democratic Leader in the Arizona State Senate. He is a third-generation Arizonan who was born in West Mesa, and has dedicated his life to serving his community as a high school teacher, an instructor at Arizona State University, a governing board member of Tempe Union High School District, and a small-business owner.

The Arizona Republic recently named David as one of “Tempe’s Exemplary People” in recognition of his commitment to the community. The Republic previously recognized him as a “Lawmaker Who Made a Difference” and as an “Emerging Leader Worth Watching.”

For more information about David Schapira and his campaign for Congress in AZ-09, please visit http://www.DavidforAZ.com

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Rachael Vinyard | Sourced from RH Reality Check 20 Apr 2012 Hits:236 Oklahoma

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April 20, the quasi-official holiday for people who enjoy marijuana, is recognized by millions around the world. Those who celebrate 4/20 do so despite – and often due to – decades of out-dated propaganda about a plant that is objectively less harmful than alcohol. They do so despite...

Art Way | Sourced from AlterNet 20 Apr 2012 Hits:170 Colorado

A couple of weeks ago, Holly Bahn of New Mexico suggested a personalized message for Virginia's Planned Parenthood license plate, the one reading "Trust women. Respect choice." Her pick: VRGYNYA. I wasn't sure it would pass the filters for explicit reference to ladyparts, but maybe I was just...

Laura Conaway | Maddow Blog 20 Apr 2012 Hits:380 Virginia

Years ago, when Tim Carpenter was leading various peace and justice causes in Orange County, he participated in very public efforts to close the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). He later moved to Massachusetts to become national director of Progressive Democrats of America (PDA), a...

Matt Coker | OC Weekly 20 Apr 2012 Hits:218 California

Georgia Settles Lawsuit To Offer Voter Registration to Public Assistance Recipients

The state of Georgia has settled a lawsuit with a coalition of voting rights groups to enforce a requirement in the federal National Voter Registration Act to offer the opportunity to register to vote to anyone applying for state public assistance or disability support. The settlement...

Steven Rosenfeld | Sourced from AlterNet 19 Apr 2012 Hits:302 Georgia

The Vermont State Senate voted yesterday calling for an amendment to the Constitution that would make clear that corporations are not people. The vote was 26-3. State Senator Virginia Lyons (D) spearheaded the effort, working with Move to Amend in 2011 to introduce a resolution that came back this year. Vermont...

Move to Amend 19 Apr 2012 Hits:248 Vermont

New York: The Front Line in the Political Money Wars

Can a crew of CEOs, investors, priests, rabbis, enviros, and more score a huge campaign finance victory in the Empire State? Forget Washington, DC. The real front line in the battle to get big money out of politics is in Albany, New York's capital and a rough-and-tumble...

Andy Kroll | Mothern Jones 19 Apr 2012 Hits:168 New York

Protestors say Occupy Spokane is far from dead

SPOKANE-- The Occupy Wall Street movement returned to Downtown Spokane Tuesday night. Economic protests began last fall but faded during the winter. Organizers say Occupy Spokane remains strong. Occupy Spokane protesters held a big rally originating at Riverfront Park Tuesday afternoon. One man...

Othello Richards | KREM.com 19 Apr 2012 Hits:274 Washington

Congressman Neal Endorses Liberal Group's Agenda

-Members of Progressive Democrats of America rally in front of Springfield MA office of US Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA) WAMC- After almost two years of lobbying, a band of liberal political activists have persuaded Massachusetts Democratic Congressman Richard Neal to endorse some of their legislation.. This as the veteran ...

Paul Tuthill | WAMC 18 Apr 2012 Hits:233 Massachusetts

Immigrants Languishing Away in Alabama Detention Center at Tax-Payers' Expense

Immigration violations are civil, not criminal infractions. But for many non-criminal immigrant detainees living alongside criminal inmates at the Etowah County Detention Center in Alabama, that distinction carries little meaning. Far removed from families and legal orientation programs, many of the 350 immigrant detainees housed...

Travis Wentworth | Sourced from Immigration Impact 17 Apr 2012 Hits:221 Alabama

Frackers Outbid Farmers for Water in Colorado Drought

Colorado is facing drought not seen since 2002, following the fourth-warmest and third-least-snowy winter in US history. Colorado State University scientists report that 98 percent of the state is facing these drought conditions. The drought comes after a record-breaking warm winter that left very low "snowpack levels" in water basins....

Rebecca Leber, ThinkProgress | Report 17 Apr 2012 Hits:517 Colorado

Arizona, with 49 out of 90 legislators with membership in the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), is a darling of the bill drafting body and home to several bills modeled on the council's legislation targeting workers' compensation, unions and public education. A report by People For the...

Yana Kunichoff, Truthout | Report 16 Apr 2012 Hits:347 Arizona

U.S. Rep. Richard Neal backs PDA Legislation

By Ben Storrow | Daily Hampshire Gazette In a move to shore up his progressive credentials in advance of an electoral challenge from the left this fall, U.S. Rep. Richard Neal confirmed on Wednesday that he will cosponsor five pieces of legislation backed by the Progressive Democrats of America, a liberal...

Ben Storrow 15 Apr 2012 Hits:217 Massachusetts

SD Legislature a stronghold for ALEC membership

The national campaign to politically discredit the American Legislative Exchange Council and the many businesses that financially support ALEC hasn’t swept into South Dakota yet, despite our Legislature being such a stronghold for lawmakers who are ALEC members. The shooting death of Trayvon Martin in Florida is...

Bob Mercer | The Daily Republic 15 Apr 2012 Hits:291 South Dakota

Have you ever rooted for an underdog -- a team, a cause or an idea -- and then had it, against all odds, start to score, take root or catch fire? That happened to me this week. I know, being a Alaska liberal, I don't get that special feeling...

Shannyn Moore | Alaska Daily News 15 Apr 2012 Hits:276 Alaska

Latest News from the Issue Teams and Working Groups

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A New Politics That Rejects Austerity and Wars of Whim

There's something sick about a politics that tells children to give uptheir lunch money so that billionaire speculators can avoid paying taxes. And that sickness will only be cured by a new politics. That new politics begins this week in Chicago. When National Nurses United and the union's allies rally May 18 in Chicago on...

John Nichols | The Nation 18 May 2012 Hits:122 ESJ Articles

President Obama doled out the most shocking stream of commencement cliches to the graduating class of Barnard College Monday. To offer just a taste: “The question is not whether things will get better — they always do… The question is whether together, we can muster the ...

Laura Flanders 17 May 2012 Hits:176 ESJ Articles

Robin Hood, Nurses Set to Rally in Chicago

Tomorrow in Chicago, nurses from across this country and global activists will rally and call on world leaders to adopt a Robin Hood tax on financial speculation by banks and financial institutions to create jobs and rebuild the economy that Wall Street broke. The Day of Action, sponsored by National Nurses United...

Mike Hall | AFL-CIO 17 May 2012 Hits:165 ESJ Articles

Court ruling may force advocacy groups to disclose secret donors

WASHINGTON -- Advocacy groups spending millions of dollars in the 2012 campaign are now faced with the prospect of having to reveal the donors who have been secretly financing their efforts after a federal appellate court panel refused to block a lower court order requiring the ...

Matea Gold | LA Times 17 May 2012 Hits:156 CFTE Articles

House Moots Afghan Exit, Iran War, Military Budget, and

On Wednesday and Thursday, the House is expected to take up consideration of the National Defense Authorization Act. Amendments will be offered to expedite military withdrawal from Afghanistan, to oppose war with Iran, to cut the military budget, and to stop "signature" drone strikes that target...

Robert Naiman | Common Dreams 16 May 2012 Hits:106 EWO Articles

Shocking New Oil Propaganda Plan to Fool Americans

The Guardian has unearthed a shocking new propaganda plan intended to turn the American public against wind energy in the 2012 election cycle. The plan is to be deployed by a shadowy network of propaganda contractors like the disgraced Heartland Institute, who recently compared those who accept the mainstream science on climate change to...

Shawn Lawrence Otto | The Huffington Post 14 May 2012 Hits:1119 SGW Articles

PDA and iMatter Kids Tell Washington: "Save Our Climate!" This Mother's Day evening, many of us are winding down after spending...

Tim Carpenter 13 May 2012 Hits:316 SGW Articles

It was nearly 10 p.m. on Wednesday when Paul Broun, a Republican congressman from Georgia, rose on the House floor to propose that no more money be spent enforcing a section of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The act is one of the most momentous laws ever...

New York Times OpEd 12 May 2012 Hits:329 VS-DRA Articles

Judge Deliberates on Whether to Save Earth's Atmosphere

U.S. District Court Judge Robert Wilkins heard the arguments on Friday in Washington, D.C., and is deliberating now on the question of whether young people can sue to compel their ...

David Swanson | War Is A Crime 11 May 2012 Hits:719 SGW Articles

Fair Trade: It's not just for coffee any more

How many times have you walked into Starbucks, ordered a "Fair Trade" latte and felt all proud of yourself for supporting small coffee farmers in Central America? Virtuous, even? A lot of times, I would bet. But exactly how many times...

Jane Stillwater 11 May 2012 Hits:232 ESJ Articles

Sen. Sanders, Environmental Groups Call to End Fossil Fuel Subsidies

Today, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), Bill McKibben of 350.org, Brent Blackwelder of Friends of the Earth and Ryan Alexander of Taxpayers for Common Sense held a rally and press conference announcing a new piece of legislation aimed at eliminating all subsidies for fossil fuel production. The bill,...

Common Dreams Staff 10 May 2012 Hits:191 SGW Articles

Stopping Coal in Its Tracks: Will Historic Actions This Week Launch Summer Uprising?

Photo courtesy of Greenpeace In a dramatic lockdown today on the coal-hauling train tracks leading into the Marshall Steam Station, a half-century-old toxic coal-fired plant owned by Duke Energy on the outskirts of Charlotte, North Carolina, legendary mountaintop removal activist Mickey McCoy and other Appalachian coalfield residents...

Jeff Biggers | AlterNet 08 May 2012 Hits:185 SGW Articles

ALEC's Voter ID Laws Work to Overturn Hundreds of Years of Progressive Moves to Broaden Democracy

Corporations, 1 percenters and Republicans are working to ensure you don’t vote because they honestly believe you don’t count. Corporations, 1 percenters and Republicans want to take America back. And by that they mean all the way to the 1780s when wealthy white men controlled the nation. In the...

Leo Gerard | AlterNet 07 May 2012 Hits:247 VS-DRA Articles

New Equal Employment Rulings Help Transgender, Ex-Offender Workers Get & Keep Jobs

This week, the EEOC ruled that transgender workers are protected under the Civil Rights Act and laid out guidelines restricting criminal background checks. Last week the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission released major decisions regarding the rights of two groups of workers that face frequent discrimination. On Monday,...

Josh Eidelson | In These Times 07 May 2012 Hits:212 ESJ Articles

Amid Push For Voter Suppression Laws, Minority Voter Registration Declines

New data from the U.S. Census Bureau reveals a decline in African American and Hispanic American voter registration since 2008, the Washington Post reports. This marks the first significant drop in the number of Latino voters in nearly 40 years. In recent years, Republicans across the country have engaged...

Josh Israel | Sourced from Think Progress 07 May 2012 Hits:151 VS-DRA Articles

The American Legislative Exchange Council, a “stealth business lobbyist” that helps corporations write state and federal legislation supporting their interests, has taken major heat for backing controversial laws. More than a dozen companies — including Coca Cola and Procter & Gamble — have pulled out of the organization over...

Stephen Lacey and Jessica Goad, ThinkProgress | Report 05 May 2012 Hits:636 SGW Articles

Obama's 'Midnight' Deal Will Stretch Afghan War to 2024

(Charles Dharapak/AP) President Obama's secret trip to Afghanistan, shrouded in secrecy for security reasons, culminated in a midnight meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the signing of a 'strategic partnership agreement', the full details of which have not been made available to either the American or...

Common Dreams Staff 05 May 2012 Hits:277 EWO Articles

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has long been a secretive organization that does not disclose a full list of its corporate members and donors. Today, Common Cause and the Center for Media Democracy are posting the most up-to-date list of corporate members available, based on documents...

Common Cause 04 May 2012 Hits:470 ECR Articles

An Apology to the Next Generation for the Turmoil to Come

[Note: I became politically active and committed on the day twenty years ago when I realized I could stand on the front porch of my house and point to three homes where children were in wheelchairs, to a home where a child had just died of leukemia,...

Chip Ward | TomDispatch 03 May 2012 Hits:267 SGW Articles

Private Water Industry Defends ALEC Membership

An influential trade association representing companies that provide water services to one in four Americans says it will continue its membership with the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative group that has worked with the energy industry to create loophole-filled water protections and opposes federal oversight...

Sarah Pavlus | Huffington Post 03 May 2012 Hits:198 ECR Articles

The Obama Speech, A Guide to the Perplexed

President Obama’s dramatic speech from Afghanistan should be parsed as a careful election-year orchestration of his plan to “wind down” the war. It is no accident that the speech came during the first-year commemoration of the killing of Osama Bin Ladin, the event providing Obama the rationale for ending American...

Tom Hayden 03 May 2012 Hits:195 EWO Articles

Fact Sheet: The U.S.-Afghanistan Strategic Partnership Agreement

In May 2010, in Washington, DC, President Obama and President Karzai committed our two countries to negotiate and conclude a strategic partnership that would provide a framework for our future relationship. On May 1, 2012, President Obama and President Karzai signed the Enduring Strategic Partnership Agreement between the Islamic...

The White House: Office of the Press Secretary 03 May 2012 Hits:280 EWO Articles

The People Behind the Lawmakers Out to Destroy Public Education: A Primer

What You Need To Know About ALEC Since the 2010 elections, when Republicans took control of many states, there has been an explosion of legislation advancing privatization of public schools and stripping teachers of job protections and collective bargaining rights. Even some Democratic governors, seeing the strong ...

Diane Ravitch | Education Week 03 May 2012 Hits:372 ECR Articles

National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Leaves ALEC's Educational Task Force

The national certifying body for teachers in the United States, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), participated in the Education Task Force of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) until April 2012. In an official statement sent to the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) today,...

Rebekah Wilce | Sourced from PR Watch 03 May 2012 Hits:225 ECR Articles

For the video of the discussion of the City Council meeting last night click here Vic explained how corruption is the key to the problem of the Citizens United v FEC Supreme Court decision. Bekka shouted out to our over 600 signatures from...

PDA Flagstaff 02 May 2012 Hits:92 ECR Articles

The Crown family: investing in weapons, war ...and Obama

Americans who went to the polls in 2008 believing that a vote for Barack Obama was a vote for peace, now face the prospect of a presidential election in which both major party candidates will be openly wedded to endless war, cold-blooded “targeted killings,” record military...

Nicolas J.S. Davies | War Is A Crime 02 May 2012 Hits:248 EWO Articles

Obama Campaign Grapples With New Voter ID Laws

A voter registration form in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, on March 22, 2012. The Obama campaign has begun national outreach to train volunteers and staff about the new voter identification laws, like the one in Florida, that the campaign says are a burden to the registration...

Michael D. Shear | The New York Times 30 Apr 2012 Hits:325 VS-DRA Articles

Customers should be able to know if companies that they are supporting with their purchases are busy spending money on groups that undermine environmental regulations, attack workers' rights, promote "Stand Your Ground" gun laws, advance discriminatory "Voter ID" laws, and otherwise bolster the right-wing legislative vanguard....

Mark Engler, Dissent Magazine | News Analysis 30 Apr 2012 Hits:572 ECR Articles

Beyond the Debt-For-Diploma System: 10 Ways Student Debt Is Blocking the Economic Mobility of Young Americans

America’s experiment with the debt-for-diploma system has officially failed. Total student loan debt in the U.S. now tops $1 trillion – an unprecedented sum that represents the unprecedented obstacles students and recent graduates face in their pursuit of the American Dream. Over the last several decades, our nation...

Jack Temple, Heather C. McGhee, Tamara Draut | DEMOS 30 Apr 2012 Hits:346 ESJ Articles

ALEC and ExxonMobil Push Loopholes in Fracking Chemical Disclosure Rules

In many states, the chemical make-up of fluid pumped into the ground while fracking is shielded from the public, thanks to laws promoted by ALEC and Exxon Mobil. One of the key controversies about fracking is the chemical makeup of the fluid that is pumped deep into the ground...

Cora Currier | Pro Publica 29 Apr 2012 Hits:345 ECR Articles

It’s official: Senate Democrats will soon hold a vote on the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would update and strengthen the Equal Pay Act of 1963, a senior Democratic Senate aide confirms to me. “This vote is going to happen,” the aide says. The vote means this will likely be the...

Greg Sargent | Washington Post 28 Apr 2012 Hits:298 ESJ Articles

Corporate Legal Rights Grow As Courts Block Pro-Consumer Class Action Suits

Consumer activists find a 2011 Supreme Court ruling has blocked dozens of class action suits, instead forcing consumers into arbitration. One year after a U.S. Supreme Court decision gave corporations free rein to block class action lawsuits, judges have used the decision to prevent at least 76 potential...

Negah Mouzoon | Public Citizen 28 Apr 2012 Hits:293 ECR Articles

ALEC May Target Renewable Energy Mandates

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a conservative policy group, has helped state lawmakers craft measures aimed at curtailing U.S. EPA air pollution rules, repealing cap and trade and teaching climate skepticism in schools, among many other things. A future target could be renewable energy mandates, which are...

Maria Gallucci, Inside Climate News | Report 28 Apr 2012 Hits:332 SGW Articles

Israel ex-security chief says leadership 'misleading public' on Iran

The former head of Israel's domestic intelligence agency has accused the country's leadership of "misleading" the public on the merits of a possible military strike on Iran. Yuval Diskin said an attack might speed up any attempt by Iran to obtain a nuclear bomb. The comment follows remarks by...

BBC News - Middle East 28 Apr 2012 Hits:306 EWO Articles

Support the ERA 3 State Strategy - Pass the ERA in Our Lifetime

Women demand equal rights. We need the ERA. On April 28, 2012 American women (and men who respect them) took to the streets at marches and rallies all across the US. In support and recognition of this inspiring national day of action, PDA and our coalition partners...

Mike Hersh and Andrea Miller 27 Apr 2012 Hits:322 ESJ Articles

Ben Cardin: Disfranchisement Bill Unlikely To Pass ‘In This Congress’

Principal sponsor of Senate voting rights bill for ex-felons says way forward must be strategic WASHINGTON -- Restoring federal voting rights to ex-felons – a good number of them from minority communities – isn’t a politically tough issue for Democratic Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland. He can’t say the same...

Aaron Morrison | Loop 21 27 Apr 2012 Hits:196 VS-DRA Articles

Woolsey Calls Solving Housing Crisis A Moral Obligation

“Thank you very much. I’m very grateful to our witnesses for joining us today and sharing their expert views on this urgent matter facing families and communities nationwide. “I don’t think you can overstate the deep emotional attachment that people have to their homes. Your house is more than just a...

Office of Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey 27 Apr 2012 Hits:211 ESJ Articles

Progressive Caucus Holds Hearing to Prevent One Million Foreclosures in 2012 with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman

Washington, D.C. – The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) today held a hearing on current efforts to help millions of American families stay in their homes and to prevent the estimated one million foreclosures experts say may occur this year. The CPC questioned New York Attorney General Eric T....

Congressional Progressive Caucus 27 Apr 2012 Hits:203 ESJ Articles

Georgetown To Continue Denying Full Contraception Coverage To Students, Announcement Says

WASHINGTON -- Georgetown University's health insurance received national attention after Georgetown Law student Sandra Fluke attempted to testify about it in front of a congressional committee. But despite the uproar that resulted -- Fluke was denied a chance to speak, then called a "slut" by radio show host Rush Limbaugh...

Max J. Rosenthal | Huffington Post 27 Apr 2012 Hits:175 ESJ Articles

Disabled People Protest to Preserve Their Benefits

Joann Cross didn't travel from El Paso, Texas, to Washington, DC, to get arrested. In fact, she's always believed that getting arrested was the wrong way to make a statement. But desperate times call for desperate measures. "I'm frustrated," she said. "We're not being heard at...

Rose Aguilar, Truthout | News Analysis 26 Apr 2012 Hits:262 ESJ Articles

Voting Rights Uprising: Activists in Three States Help GOP's Targets Get Voter ID

Grassroots groups in Wisconsin, Tennessee and Colorado help GOP targets obtain credentials to vote in 2012. The GOP-led effort to disenfranchise likely Democratic voting blocks by enacting tougher state voter ID laws has run into a new obstacle: targeted populations are fighting back as voting rights advocates are ...

George Bauer | AlterNet 26 Apr 2012 Hits:200 VS-DRA Articles

Profit-Driven Medicine Violates American Patients Young and Old

Though my grandson and I are in two different sections of the country and both facing different cancer scares, we share one thing more prominently than anything else. We are being violated as human beings in need of medical care by our health providers’ need to protect...

Donna Smith | Common Dreams 26 Apr 2012 Hits:213 HCA Articles

Democracy Restoration Act Would Restore Voting Rights to Millions

Despite two centuries of a national history extending the right to vote to ever more Americans, state legislatures have recently passed a flurry of laws that make voting more difficult. Some require government-issued photo identification cards; others are obstructing early voting or restricting voter registration drives....

Myrna Pérez and Lee Bowland | Brennan Center for Justice Democracy Program 26 Apr 2012 Hits:486 VS-DRA Articles

Private Prison Corporations Are Modern Day Slave Traders

The nation’s largest private prison company, the Corrections Corporation of America, is on a buying spree. With a war chest of $250 million, the corporation, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, earlier this year sent letters to 48 states, offering to buy their prisons outright....

Glenn Ford | Black Agenda Report 25 Apr 2012 Hits:107 ESJ Articles

Jefferson County resolution censures ‘corporate personhood’

Charlie Bermant | Peninsula Daily News 25 Apr 2012 Hits:491 ECR Articles

When the Supreme Court handed down the Citizens United decision in January 2010, President Obama described it as “devastating to the public interest” and promised that he would work to “repair the damage that has been done.” It was supposed to be among his top priorities. If working...

Theo Anderson | In These Times 23 Apr 2012 Hits:293 ECR Articles

In 2008, when Sen. John McCain won just four percent of the black vote, it looked like the GOP couldn’t do any worse among African Americans in a presidential election. But that’s now a real possibility. Republicans were pleased with George W. Bush’s 11 percent share of ...

Theo Anderson | In These Times 23 Apr 2012 Hits:211 VS-DRA Articles

Common Cause challenges ALEC's tax-exempt status

Late yesterday, Common Cause dropped a bombshell. It intends to file a complaint with the IRS alleging that the American Legislative Exchange Council is abusing its nonprofit status. Specifically, Common Cause claims that ALEC is a lobbying organization masquerading as a charity. ALEC is formed as a nonprofit...

Christian Dem in NC | Daily Kos 23 Apr 2012 Hits:280 ECR Articles

Congressional Progressive Caucus to Hold Hearing on Preventing One Million More Foreclosures

The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) will hold a hearing called Turning the Tide: Preventing One Million More Foreclosures and Holding Wrong-doers Accountable on April 26, 2012 at 2:00 p.m. in Room B-308 of the Rayburn House Office Building with New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman. The hearing is an...

Congressional Progressive Caucus 21 Apr 2012 Hits:233 ESJ Articles

Democrats Must Fight for the 99% to Win in 2012

The labor movement’s campaign to oust Democratic Congressman Jason Altmire in the new 12th Congressional District is an important push against the bankers’ foothold in the Democratic Party. United Steelworkers Union President Leo Gerard kicked off a one week labor campaign to mobilize union voters behind...

Randy Shannon | Economic and Social Justice 20 Apr 2012 Hits:540 ESJ Articles

Getting Paid 93 Cents a Day in America? Corporations Bring Back the 19th Century

Prison Labor as the Past -- and Future -- of American “Free-Market” Capitalism Nearly a million prisoners are working in call centers, working in slaughterhouses, or manufacturing textiles while getting paid somewhere between 93 cents and $4.73. Sweatshop labor is back with a vengeance. It can be found across...

Steve Fraser and Joshua B. Freeman | TomDispatch 20 Apr 2012 Hits:276 ESJ Articles

This week the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) announced that it would disband its controversial "Public Safety and Elections Task Force" to "Sharpen its Focus on Jobs, Free Markets and Growth." The disbanding of the source of a few of its more extreme proposals on voter ID, "Stand Your...

Mary Bottari, PR Watch | Report 19 Apr 2012 Hits:273 ECR Articles

ALEC Disbands Task Force Responsible for Voter ID, Stand Your Ground Laws

Pressured by watchdog groups, civil rights organizations and a growing national movement for accountable lawmaking, the American Legislative Exchange Council announced Tuesday that it was disbanding the task force that has been responsible for advancing controversial Voter ID and "Stand Your Ground" laws. ALEC, the shadowy corporate-funded proponent of so-called "model...

John Nichols | The Nation 17 Apr 2012 Hits:294 ECR Articles

50 Percent Pay Cuts at GE's Plants: Is This the Future of American Jobs?

The company President Obama called a "model for America" is squeezing its workers, cutting pensions, wages and benefits--but workers are organizing to fight back. If the war against unions has reached a tipping point, Wilma Smith is among those determined to rebalance the scales. The 58-year-old assembler at the General...

Mischa Gaus | Labor Notes 17 Apr 2012 Hits:351 ESJ Articles

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