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Tag Archives: Congress
Tell the Senate: Pass the bill to reverse the Supreme Court’s attack on Black women’s healthcare
Arisha Michelle Hatch, ColorOfChange.org
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Last week, the Supreme Court sided with the far-right and gutted a key part of Obamacare’s protections for women’s health.
Black women are getting caught in the middle as the right-wing tries to chip away at the Affordable Care Act. Affordable access to contraception is a matter of life and death for Black women who are 3 times more likely to die from pregnancy-related issues than white women. Many of us regularly use contraception to treat endometriosis, manage uterine fibroids and alleviate PMS symptoms.1 The far-right is more concerned with tarnishing President Obama’s legacy than ensuring we have access to affordable healthcare.
But, we have a way to fight back!
The Protect Women’s Health From Corporate Interference Act was just introduced in Congress to reverse the Supreme Court’s decision gutting a woman’s right to birth control coverage. The bill states that federal laws, including the Religious Freedom Restoration Act used by Hobby Lobby’s right-wing lawyers, do not allow employers to refuse to cover health care — including birth control — guaranteed by Obamacare. It would ensure women at corporations like Hobby Lobby could make important health decisions with their doctors, not their bosses.
Tell the Senate: Pass the bill to reverse the Supreme Court’s attack on Black women’s healthcare.
Black women overall are at a higher risk for unintended pregnancy but have less access to insurance and preventative care.2 The contraception mandate in Obamacare would go a long way towards reducing cost barriers for our access to birth control and help close the gap in contraceptive use between Black women and our white and Latina peers — but we need Congress to reverse the Supreme Court’s damage. Politicians with an eye on November elections need to know that if they count on Black people to vote for them at the polls, they need to vote for the needs of Black women in Congress and pass this bill.
That’s why we’re teaming up with our friends at UltraViolet. If we shine a spotlight on this bill and bring it to a vote, we’ll know which members of Congress support Black women’s healthcare — and which side with 5 men on the Supreme Court. Will you sign?
Tell the your Senators: Reverse the Supreme Court’s attack our healthcare.
Thanks and Peace,
–Arisha, Rashad, Matt, Aimée, Johnny and the rest of the ColorOfChange team.
July 10, 2014
Help support our work. ColorOfChange.org is powered by YOU—your energy and dollars. We take no money from lobbyists or large corporations that don’t share our values, and our tiny staff ensures your contributions go a long way.
References
1. “How the Hobby Lobby Decision Impacts Black Women,” EBONY, 6-30-14
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3645?t=7&akid=3473.1174326.0t4Dbp
2. “Hobby Lobby Ruling Opens the Door to ‘Method Discrimination’ for Black Women,” The Root, 7-3-14
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3646?t=9&akid=3473.1174326.0t4Dbp
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Low Wages? Low Sales.
The Middle Class Squeeze Is Worrying Big Retailers, Too
Earlier this month, CAP released a report highlighting how squeezed middle-class Americans have become. That report showed that while the cost of attaining middle class security has increased by over $10,000 since 2000, wages for most Americans have remained stagnant.
The cycle of economic stagnation—low wages, leading to weak demand, leading to slow growth, leading again to low wages—is not only hurting America’s hard-working citizens, but it is also hurting businesses where those workers might spend their money and in turn boost the entire US economy. Wall Street is finally starting to get it: Standard & Poor’s has issued a report saying that inequality is holding back economic growth and Morgan Stanley has warned investors that stronger wage growth is critical to our economic growth.
A new CAP report released today provides further evidence that this squeezed middle class weakens our entire economy, hurting both businesses and the consumers who support them. The report, ”Retailer Revelations,” looked at the financial reports of the top 100 retailers in America and statements of Wall Street’s top economists about the outlook for the country’s biggest retailers. The consensus: trickledown economics is not working.
It has taken more than five years for retail spending per person to reach its prerecession level in the United States and business have begun to realize the impact that is having on their bottom line. Using new information to show the impact middle-class stagnation has had on the economy, the report demonstrates that businesses’ support for economic policies that grow the middle class would directly benefit their own business.
Here are some key findings:
- Eighty-eight percent of the top 100 US retailers consider weak consumer spending a risk to their stock price.
- Sixty-eight percent cite falling or stagnant incomes as a risk to their stock price — roughly double the percent that cited them in 2006.
- Fifty-seven percent cite rising costs of essentials like housing, healthcare and energy, as risks to their stock price, further showing the middle class squeeze.
- Wall Street economists even argue that low wages drive low demand and high unemployment.
- Retailers could see their bottom line increase by supporting a growth-oriented agenda with policies such as a minimum wage increase.
BOTTOM LINE: America’s biggest retailers have realized that when the middle class loses, everyone loses. It’s time conservative lawmakers and pundits realized it too. An economy that works for everyone is an economy that grows from the middle out.
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Día de Reyes: A Time for Friends, Feasts, and Food Safety
Celebrated in January … Some on the 5th , 6th and or the 10th Nothing brings people together like the Holidays, or Navidades for Spanish speakers. Día de Reyes (Three Kings Day) would not be complete without some excellent eats. Many Hispanic-Americans have a favorite dish during this special season – from lechón topasteles to tamales to atole. Nothing brings a party down like poor food safety though. No one wants to be down for the count during this time of the year–think of all the parties that will be missed! And you don’t want to be responsible for getting your guests sick either |
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Goodbye, Colbert Report
On Its Final Day, Remembering Some Of The Colbert Report’s Best
The final episode of “The Colbert Report” airs tonight, as its host Stephen Colbert moves on to succeed David Letterman as the new late night host on CBS. In the move, Colbert is retiring the hilarious, ridiculous, and lovable conservative pundit that hosted his show. In his honor, we wanted to share with you some of our favorite Colbert moments:
- The Colbert Super PAC, “Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow.” In one of the best examples of the comedian’s humor to actually educate people about an important civic issue, Colbert’s efforts earned him a Peabody award, over $1 million in donations, and some pretty hilarious bits.
- When Colbert interviews Jane Fonda and Gloria Steinem about their new feminist radio station — while the three of them make an apple pie.
- Former Arizona Senator Jon Kyl landed himself in some hot water after saying that abortion services are “well over 90 percent of what Planned Parenthood does.” Abortion is actually just 3 percent of Planned Parenthood services, and when Kyl was corrected a spokesman said the Senator’s comment was “not intended to be a factual statement.” Enter Colbert.
- Pretty much any time Colbert went head-to-head with Bill O’Reilly.
- Colbert’s Congressional testimony — in character — about the plight of migrant farm workers. “I don’t want a tomato picked by a Mexican. I want it picked by an American, sliced by a Guatemalan . . . and served in a spa where a Chilean gives me a Brazilian.”
- After Daft Punk cancelled their appearance on the Report, Stephen gathered some of his friends — including Bryan Cranston and Jimmy Fallon — to do their own rendition of the musical group’s summer hit, ‘Get Lucky.’
- Any of Colbert’s “Better Know A District” segments — but perhaps most importantly when Nancy Pelosi rode a BMX bike.
- Colbert’s appearance as the host of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in 2006: “To sit here at the same table with my hero, George W. Bush. To be this close to the man! I feel like I’m dreaming. Somebody pinch me. Actually, I’m a pretty sound sleeper, that may not be enough. Somebody shoot me in the face.”
- That time when Colbert and Jon Stewart staged the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear. Hundreds of thousands of people attended the rally on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
- Colbert’s moving, tearful tribute to his late mother. The comedian knew how to be serious, too.
Thanks for nine years of giving us the most low-class, bloviating, hypocritical, obnoxious, arrogant — and all-around amazing — coverage of important progressive issues and so much more. We don’t know what to expect from the new show, but we aren’t expecting anything less.
PS: Want a taste of what Colbert is like out of character? Here he is talking to the Yale Daily News, with Yale student and former CAP Action intern Cody Pomeranz as the interviewer!
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