Pamela Powers Hannley

Long-time blogger and political activist, Pamela Powers Hannley holds a masters’ degree in public health from the University of Arizona and a bachelors’ degree in journalism from the Ohio State University. She has worked for many years in communications and public relations. Powers Hannley stepped down from her position as the managing editor of the American Journal of Medicine to serve Legislative District 9 in the Arizona House. Powers Hannley won her seat in November 2016 and won her re-election bid in 2018. She continues to work part-time social media editor for the journal. In addition to Blog for Arizona, she writes her own blog, The The Tucson Progressive and has contributed political stories to the Huffington Post. Powers Hannley is co-director of Arizonans for a New Economy, Arizona’s public banking initiative. Political website: PowersForThePeople.net Facebook Page: Pamela Powers Hannley for House Tucson Progressive on Facebook: Tucson Progressive Twitter handle: @p2hannley Instagram: p2hannley

‘Black Thursday’ backlash continues against big box stores

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Turkeyby Pamela Powers Hannley

Retail employees who work for Wal-Mart, Target, Sears, Toys R Us, Kmart, Tanger Outlets, Gap, and Meijer can forget the Norman Rockwell-style Thanksgiving Dinner again this year.

Although Wal-Mart is getting the most heat for requiring employees to work on Thansgiving, they are not alone. Corporate greed runs deep in the US. Fortunately, so does Internet-based activism. According to CNBC, a "Black Thursday" backlash is building against retailers who are hawking Thanksgiving Day sales. Read more after the jump.

Walmart, Papa Johns, & Hostess: Can capitalists afford to pay workers more? (video)

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Working-011-sm72by Pamela Powers Hannley

Except for a few bumps in the road– like the crash of worldwide financial markets and the colapse of the housing industry– capitalists have had a great run in the past decade.

Profits are at record levels. Wages are down– except for CEO pay, which averaged $9.6 million/year in 2011. The Supreme Court says corporations are people with the right of free speech and the right to buy elections. Humans are desperate for work worldwide.

And thanks to multinational expansion, the demise of manufacturing, and a barrage of attacks on unions, major US corporations can pick and choose workers from a worldwide buffet of skills and salaries.

So, if the capitalists are doing so well, why are they being so stingy with their workers? Find out after the jump.

Black Friday: Capitalist holiday or day of protest?

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Money02-bw-crop-sm72-300x217by Pamela Powers Hannley

Thanks to the tradition of giving salaried workers the Friday after Thanksgiving off as a vacation day + the availability of cheap credit + big sales and thousands of dollars in advertising, that Friday became the biggest US shopping day of the year decades ago.

Christmas season is a major money-maker in our capitalist society. In the cut-throat world of retail sales, Black Friday was the day that many retailers broke even– the day that wild sales brought frenzied consumers into the stores to buy Christmas presents a month early– the day their books moved "into the black". 

As a protest against this rabid consumerism and the commercialization of Thanksgiving and Christmas–- economic protesters re-invented the concept of Black Friday several years ago and promoted it as a day to stay home from the stores and not “shop ’til you drop”.

What is the true meaning of Black Friday today? Find out after the jump.

Immigration reform: What role will Ron Barber play?

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The Republican vs Republican-lite Congressional District 2 race has finally been called. Congressman Ron Barber defeated Colonel Marthy McSally in a very tight contest.

With the special election primary, the special election, and the general election, Barber has been running for office for 10 months of this year. Now, he can finally relax into his new Capitol Hill seat.

But, wait, there’s more… now, he has to stand up and be our Congressman.

And immigration reform– a hot-button Southern Arizona issue, for sure– is at the top of President Barack Obama’s priority list, after his rainbow-hued election win. With his delayed deportation for Dreamers and his focus on deporting undocumented criminals (and not your housekeeper), Obama has been inching forward on immigration reform.

What will the role of Baja Arizona’s new Congressman be? Find out after the jump.

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Sonoran Alliance says ‘grassroots effort’ (not dark money) defeated Props 121 &204

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by Pamela Powers Hannley

Sonoran Alliance— a conservative mouthpiece– has reported that a "strong grassroots effort" by staunch Arizona conservatives defeated Proposition 121 (open primaries) and Proposition 204 (permanent 1 cent sales tax to fund education) in the recent election.

The video accompanying the story features dark money king Robert Graham lauding volunteers for making phone calls, writing letters, and talking to their friends about the two propositions and thus triumphing on election day.

This a great fairy tale to make the base feel good. Too bad it's not true.

Both propositions were defeated by huge dark money donations by Americans for Responsible Leadership, who funneled $900,000 in out-of-state money into Arizona to defeat Prop 204 and $600,000 to defeat Prop 121. The same group also funneled $11 million worth of dark money into two California campaigns.  Talking Points Memo reported that Americans for Repsonsible Leadership admited to "campaign money laundering" related to the California donations. 

Former Arizona House Speaker Kirk Adams is the president of Americans for Responsible Leadership, and Graham is the director. Graham has a vested interest in making Arizona's Republicans feel all warm and fuzzy inside. He wants to be their next statewide chair. 

Having a dark money Koch Brothers puppet as head of the Arizona Republican Party– now that is scary. Watch the Graham video after the jump.