Tag Archives: Republican

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Zach Silk, Yes on 594

12/07/2014 Nativegrl77

It’s time.

Right before Thanksgiving, I mentioned that we’d be working closely with the Center for Gun Responsibility to keep educating the public and helping to pass commonsense laws to build on the progress we’ve made by voting Yes on 594.

And that work started yesterda‌y at 1‌0‌:00 a‌.m., when we celebrated the official certification of Initiative 594 and unveiled our legislative agenda for the future.

Are you ready to take the next step with us?

Yes, I am — let’s keep fighting to reduce gun violence in Washington!

I’m not sure.

I think you’ll be pleased with what we revealed ye‌sterda‌y morn‌ing with our partners from the Center for Gun Responsibility.

In addition to gathering feedback from our supporters, we worked with our advisory board to get input from all corners of Washington. As always, our approach is evidence-based — grounded in relevant research and best practices — and aimed at what we know will reduce gun violence in Washington. In short, we’re going to focus on:

* Child Safety: Creating criminal liability for adults whose firearms are used by children to commit gun violence.

* Gun Violence Protection Orders: Utilizing a system similar to Washington’s existing Domestic Violence Protective Orders that would provide tools to families and law enforcement to keep guns out of the hands of those who are a threat to themselves or others.

* Notification When Firearms Are Returned: Allowing family members and survivors to sign up for alerts when a firearm is returned to its owner after having been removed.

* Access to Mental Health Services: Supporting increased funding for mental health services and increasing the tools available to family members and mental health professionals to make sure that those in crisis get the care and services they need.

* Keeping Guns Out of Dangerous Hands: Adding convictions for crimes shown to be high predictors of future firearm violence to the list of factors that render a person ineligible to buy or possess guns.

* Gun Range Health and Safety: Addressing the extensive instances of lead-related health and safety violations at gun ranges throughout Washington State.

It’s ambitious — but your support has shown us that we can accomplish great things when we set our minds to it. So I just have one question: Are you ready to take the next step with us?

Yes, I am — let’s keep fighting to reduce gun violence in Washington!

I’m not sure.

Once again, I can’t thank you enough for helping Washington vote Yes on 594. Thank you for continuing to fight for commonsense reforms!

Let’s do this.

Zach Silk
Campaign Manager
Yes on 594

And that work started yesterda‌y at 1‌0‌:00 a‌.m., when we celebrated the official certification of Initiative 594 and unveiled our legislative agenda for the future.

Are you ready to take the next step with us?

Yes, I am — let’s keep fighting to reduce gun violence in Washington!

I’m not sure.

I think you’ll be pleased with what we revealed ye‌sterda‌y morn‌ing with our partners from the Center for Gun Responsibility.

* Child Safety: Creating criminal liability for adults whose firearms are used by children to commit gun violence.

* Notification When Firearms Are Returned: Allowing family members and survivors to sign up for alerts when a firearm is returned to its owner after having been removed.

* Gun Range Health and Safety: Addressing the extensive instances of lead-related health and safety violations at gun ranges throughout Washington State.

It’s ambitious — but your support has shown us that we can accomplish great things when we set our minds to it. So I just have one question: Are you ready to take the next step with us?

Yes, I am — let’s keep fighting to reduce gun violence in Washington!

I’m not sure.

Once again, I can’t thank you enough for helping Washington vote Yes on 594. Thank you for continuing to fight for commonsense reforms!

Let’s do this.

Zach Silk
Campaign Manager
Yes on 594

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

314,000 jobs

12/07/2014 Nativegrl77

In case you missed it, U.S. businesses added 314,000 jobs last month, according to today’s report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That means the private sector has now added 10.9 million jobs over 57 straight months of job growth — the longest streak on record.

What’s more, our economy has added 2.6 million jobs in the first 11 months of this year — which is already more than any full calendar year since the 1990s.

It’s been a long road to this economic recovery, and there’s still more work to do to ensure that hardworking Americans see higher wages. But our economy is making real progress, and we’re outpacing much of the world in putting people back to work.

Get the facts on today’s jobs report, and how the Administration is working to continue our economic progress.

President Obama Nominates Ashton Carter as the Next Secretary of Defense

This morning, President Obama announced his nomination of former Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter to be the next U.S. Secretary of Defense. Carter has been in public service for more than 30 years, and has served in various positions under 11 Secretaries of Defense.

Press Secretary Josh Earnest discusses the President’s right to take action on immigration, and Republicans’ refusal to support immigration reform.

President Obama, Vice President Biden, and First Lady Michelle Obama joined college presidents and education leaders from around the country yesterday to announce 600 new actions to help more students prepare for and graduate from college.

BREAKING NEWS: Victory for New Jersey Women! repost

12/06/2014 Nativegrl77

1/2014 a repost

The New Jersey Legislature passed an important pregnancy discrimination bill(s2995/a4486)by an overwhelming majority earlier this year. Governor Christie signed the bill into law. According to Dina Baskst,Co-Founder and Co-President of A Better Balance,”This is a great day for the women of New jersey-this path breaking law will allow women the ability to stay healthy and on the job while pregnant,ensuring economic security and fairness for them and their families.”

A huge thanks goes out to our New Jersey supporters, who called and e-mailed Governor Christie to encourage him to sign the bill. You made this happen!

The law will protect New Jersey women who are pregnant and need a simple accommodation in order to stay healthy and on the job. Unfortunately, despite the fact that pregnancy discrimination has been illegal in the United States for over thirty-five years, women are still forced off the job when they need a simple adjustment at work, such as temporary relief from heavy lifting, extra bathroom or water breaks, or time off to recover from childbirth. The law will put an end to this practice in New Jersey. A Better Balance was instrumental in getting the law passed, including testifying at both a Senate and Assembly hearing on the law and crafting bill language.

The law goes into effect immediately, so if you or someone you know has any problems at work while pregnant, please call our advice and counseling legal hotline at 212-430-5982.

This bill, which passed with vast bipartisan support, represents the latest victory in a growing movement for stronger pregnancy discrimination protections. Philadelphia and Wisconsin recently introduced pregnancy discrimination legislation and later this month, a similar law in New York City will go into effect. Finally, the federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act currently has 117 cosponsors in the House of Representatives and 20 cosponsors in the Senate.

Thank you for all your support,

Sherry, Dina, Phoebe, Jared, Elizabeth, Liz, Risha, & Rachel

P.S. Watch this video of NYC Mayor de Blasio at last week’s New York City Paid Sick Days press conference, where he thanks A Better Balance for our leadership (at the two minute mark).

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Ferguson Decision in Context

12/05/2014 Nativegrl77

By CAP Action War Room

The Disturbing Facts Surrounding The Case And Where We Go From Here

By now the world knows about the grand jury decision announced last night to not indict Officer Darren Wilson for the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old, on August 9. What you may not know, however, is the context surrounding the case: how remarkably rare it is for a grand jury not to indict, but how remarkably common it is for tragedies like this one to occur; a prosecutor asked to step down before presenting the case, and then slammed by experts afterward for how he handled it. These circumstances have amounted to a situation that has left many people, paradoxically, shocked yet unsurprised at how it unfolded, and searching for accountability and answers about how to prevent more tragedies like this in the future.

A decision by the grand jury not to indict is very rare. According to statistics from the Justice Department, grand juries declined to return and indictment in just 11 of 162,000 federal cases prosecuted by U.S. attorneys in 2010, the most recent year for which we have data. While Wilson’s case was heard in state court, not federal, legal experts agree that it is extremely rare for prosecutors at any level to fail to win an indictment.

The prosecutor’s tactics made a charge much less likely. According to legal experts, county prosecutor Robert McCollough approached the case in a way that could have made an indictment less likely. He decided to let the grand jury hear “every scrap of evidence,” as he put it. Typically, prosecutors present to the grand jury only the evidence necessary to establish probable cause – a grand jury does not determine guilt or innocence but only if a reasonable jury could find the defendant guilty. Watch this video to learn more.

The prosecutor faced widespread criticism leading up to the decision, and after it. As the case began, civil rights groups called for McCollough to step down, citing his previous support for police officers in another police misconduct case, and a family history that includes many family members on the police force including his father, who was killed by a black man with a gun. After the decision last night, many decried McCoullough’s choice to make the announcement late at night, his long-winded explanation pointing fingers at the media, and his defiant tone that reinforced prior frustration with how he handled the case.

In the wake of the decision, community activists are taking the long view. ThinkProgress reporter Carimah Townes reports from Ferguson: “The death of Michael Brown was just the straw that broke the camel’s back, adding to a longer list of grievances in the community, such as income inequality and the need for a $15 minimum wage. And activist groups, professional associations, and individuals in and around the city are already looking — and planning — beyond the verdict, in the hopes of seeking justice for individuals who die at the hands of police.”

Lives cut short by police violence happen all too often. A 22-year-old carrying a sword his mother said was a toy. A 12-year-old gunned down by police while carrying a toy gun at a playground. Another 22-year-old who had just picked up a BB gun stocked on the shelf of a WalMart. A young man walking down a darkened stairwell in an apartment complex after he and his girlfriend got tired of waiting for the elevator. These are just a few of the numerous examples of lives cut short by police since Michael Brown was killed in August.

BOTTOM LINE: The context surrounding the decision not to indict Darren Wilson in the shooting of Michael Brown only increases the immensely troubling and tragic nature of the incident. While we respect the work and the decision of the grand jury, days like yesterday are a clear reminder about how much work we still have left to do to ensure that treatment by the criminal justice system is not determined by one’s race, and that the opportunity to prosper is not based on one’s ZIP code.

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NFL: Stand UP for Women

12/03/2014 Nativegrl77

Tell NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell:
“The shamefully insufficient two-game suspension of Ray Rice for his documented assault of Janay Palmer sends a terrible message about how the NFL views violence against women. You need to take a strong stand and implement guidance–including appropriate discipline–for how the league will handle domestic violence, sexual assault, and any other violence against women in the future.”

Add your name:

Earlier this year, Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice was arrested for the aggravated assault of Janay Palmer, his fiancee. The assault was especially newsworthy because video of Rice dragging an unconscious Palmer off an elevator went viral, but it’s hardly the only incident of violence against women involving NFL players.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has complete discretion in punishing players who violate the league’s personal conduct policy. Last week, he gave Rice a two-game suspension and a $58,000 fine. His decision to dole out such a weak punishment, which is lighter than what players who smoke marijuana receive, has sent shockwaves through the league and the media. On Monday, the NFL doubled down when NFL senior vice president of labor policy Adolpho Birch went on the radio and defended Goodell’s decision as “appropriate.”

The NFL’s leadership is sending a clear but terrible message that violence against women doesn’t matter to the league.

Enough’s enough: Join over 50,000 CREDO activists to tell NFL Commissioner Goodell to take violence against women seriously. Click here to sign the petition.

Violence against women is an obvious, long-term problem facing the NFL.¹ But as high-profile arrests of players for domestic violence and sexual assault continue, the league has done little or nothing. Most players involved in domestic violence incidents have received suspensions of one to three games. Commissioner Roger Goodell has issued longer suspensions for pot smoking, taking Adderall, DUI’s, illegal tattoos, and dogfighting.²

The commissioner has unilateral authority to punish people whose behavior is viewed as “detrimental to the welfare” of the league. But while players who are caught using marijuana or performance enhancing drugs are routinely issued serious punishments of four or more games, the NFL has consistently shied away from meaningful punishments for domestic abuse, sexual assault, and violence against women in general.

What does it tell young men and women about women’s value when players receive harsher punishment for smoking pot than for violence against women? The “boys will be boys” culture that spawned the Steubenville tragedy and many a rape and abuse case in football programs around the country is reinforced by a ruling like this.

When the NFL fails to deal seriously with incidents of violence against women, it sends a message to every league employee and fan that violence against women is OK. Tell Commissioner Goodell it’s time for a change. Click the link below to sign the petition.

http://act.credoaction.com/sign/NFL_women?t=5&akid=11311.5370530.j3BLbi

Thanks for standing up for women.

Heidi Hess, Campaign Manager
CREDO Action from Working Assets

Add your name: