Cream Of The Crop


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Conservative Candidates Are Offering Us Their Best As The Election Approaches

Election Day is only 19 days away and candidates are make their final appeals to the voters they hope to represent. We’ve written about how Florida Governor Rick Scott is courageously reminding people that he is not a scientist when it comes to acting on the climate change that is destroying his state’s future. We’ve observed how Colorado Senate Candidate Cory Gardner is working dutifully to muddy the waters on his anti-women policies (He fooled the Denver Post!). But we know it can get hard to keep up with all of these fine candidates and the leadership they are offering. So here is a list of what some other conservative candidates are saying to boldly defend our values:

Georgia Senate Candidate David Perdue (R):

  • In response to questions from reporters about outsourcing jobs when he was a corporate executive, Purdue defended sending jobs overseas as the American Way: It’s “a part of American business, part of any business,” Perdue said. “I’m proud of it.”
  • Purdue put out an ad accusing his opponent Michelle Nunn of funding “organizations linked to terrorists.” When asked whether he believed Nunn was associated with terrorists he responded, “Well, that’s what it says in their plan.”

Arkansas Senate Candidate Tom Cotton (R):

Kentucky Senate Candidate and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R):

  • When asked to answer yes or no to the question, “Do you believe in climate change?” McConnell answered in textbook fashion: “It is not a yes or no question. I am not a scientist. I know there are scientists who think it’s a problem and scientists who think it isn’t a problem… my job is to try to protect jobs in Kentucky now. Not speculate about science in the future.”
  • McConnell wants to get rid of Obamacare, but keep the Obamacare website his constituents love. “Kentucky Kynect is a website. It was paid for by a grant from the federal government,” he said. “The website can continue, but in my view the best interests of the country would be achieved by pulling out Obamacare root and branch.”

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (R):

Virginia Senate Candidate Ed Gillespie(R):

  • In a nifty display of incorrect logic, Gillespie told women that repealing the ACA will actually improve their access to birth control. (Shh: Obamacare’s contraceptive mandate, which requires insurers to cover all FDA-approved birth control methods without charging an additional co-pay, has made contraception more affordable for millions of women.)

BOTTOM LINE: During campaign season candidates have teams of people responsible for crafting just the right message. These statements by leading conservative candidates demonstrate that they have their fingers on the pulse of what the American people want: Elected officials who ignore the facts, refuse to answer simple questions, oppose policies that would help the middle class, and protect the wealthiest instead of create an economy that works for everyone.

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Tell us, which label is better for you?


Finding cleaning products that are safer for you, your family, and the environment should be easy. That’s why EPA’s Design for the Environment (DfE) program is redesigning their safer product label. Products with a DfE Label have met high standards in the health, performance, and environmental spectrum and contain only those ingredients that pose the least concern among chemicals in their class. This label helps customers, businesses, and institutional buyers identify cleaning and other products that perform well and are safer for human health and the environment.

The EPA wants consumers to be able to easily find safer products. To make this effort that much easier, the agency wants to hear from the American people on which label designs will help people most effectively identify household cleaning and other products that are safer for families and the environment.

Vote for your favorite by October 31st.

Thank you for your input and helping us create a more recognizable label for safer and effective household products for consumers like you!

-The Earth Day Network Team

 

Microsoft’s CEO said that women shouldn’t ask for raises and should rely on “karma” instead.


Microsoft’s CEO said that women shouldn’t ask for raises and should rely on “karma” instead.

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Tell CEO Satya Nadella: Disclose Microsoft’s pay data immediately.

Take Action

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recently told an audience full of women in technology that they shouldn’t ask for raises. That instead they should rely on “karma” for career advancement.

The CEO knew he had messed up, and almost immediately posted an apology onto Microsoft’s website.  (1)

The thing is: an apology isn’t enough. We need more than words to prove that this was just a slip up, and not a mentality that pervades Microsoft. We need evidence that the company is truly committed to diversity and inclusion.

For Black people, this isn’t just a women’s issue. Black men earn 73 cents for every dollar a white man earns, while Black women earn only 64 cents. (2)

If Black men and women are ever going to have a fair shot at Microsoft, or anywhere in the tech industry, big companies need to make their salary statistics public. We need to know how much Black folks are earning compared to their white counterparts.

We’re going to be waiting a long time for equality if we wait for karma to kick in. For-example, the pay gap has barely budged in a decade, and last year it got even worse for Black women. The pay gap takes $18,650 out of Black women’s pockets every year. (3) And since the recent financial crisis, the racial wealth gap has doubled: white families now have 22 times the household wealth Black families have. (4)

Microsoft is one of the biggest technology companies on the planet and employs 99,000 people – more than Apple or Google. (5) Despite a public commitment to diversifying their workforce over the last twenty years, less than a third of Microsoft employees are women, and only 3.5% are Black folks. That means the company’s workforce has four times fewer Black people than the American population. (6, 7)

With the CEO’s recent “karma” comment, the country is paying attention to what Microsoft does next. By taking action right now we can ensure that Microsoft releases its pay data — a crucial step in ensuring pay equity for Black people.

Add your name today.

Thanks and peace,

–Arisha, Rashad, Matt, and Bhavik for the ColorOfChange team
Sources:

  1. Microsoft CEO apologizes for ridiculous comments about women“, Salon, 10-10-2014.
  2. Unequal Pay Is Even More Unequal For Women Of Color“, ThinkProgress, 11-15-2013.
  3. See source #2
  4. Great Recession Doubled Wealth Gap Between Whites And African-Americans“, ThinkProgress, 06-21-2014.
  5. Samsung has more employees than Google, Apple, and Microsoft combined“, ArsTechnica, 09-25-2014.
  6.  “Our Global Diversity & Inclusion“, Microsoft.
  7.  “Our employee community“, Microsoft, 09-30-2014.

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