Pamela Powers

Long-time blogger and political activist, Pamela Powers 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 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 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
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#TPP Is ‘Worse Than We Thought’: Text Finally Public

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pillsYesterday the text of the multi-national “free trade” agreement– the long-awaited Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) — was released to the public. This start the 90-day review period before President Barack Obama can seek approval from Congress. (Note that the review period overlaps the holiday season and the presidential primaries– plenty of distraction for the American voters.)

Ant-TPP activists and humanitarians wasted no time pushing out their stories and opinions; analyses are being posted on blogs, videos, and social media, particularly Twitter (#FlushTheTPP, #TPPWorseThanWeThought). Labeling the TPP a “corporate power grab nightmare,” Common Dreams posted a comprehensive write-up detailing low points such as climate denial, food safety, and net neutrality. Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman interviewed Public Citizen/Global Trade Watch’s  Lori Wallach and Doctors Without Borders Michael Forman. Focusing on big pharma’s power grab, Doctors Without Borders came out quickly and strongly calling the TPP “the worst trade agreement for access to medicines in developing countries”. The TPP extends drug patents and increases big pharma’s ability to set high prices. High prices will limit availability and limit access to care, particularly in poor countries. This will result in increased premature death among those who live in poverty. [So, why are we doing this? Oh, yeah, it’s “business friendly.” Too bad about the whole premature death thing.]

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US House Says ‘Yes’ to Wall Street #Welfare in Highway Bill

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moneyIn one of his first acts as Speaker of the House of Representatives Paul Ryan oversaw doling out $17 million in corporate welfare to Wall Street banks. How did he manage this? The usual sneaky way– by tacking this onto an unrelated piece of “must pass” legislation. (You’ll remember that’s how Republican lawmakers weakened Wall Street regulation last year.)

Yesterday, 354 members of the House of Representatives– all but two Republicans and 70 Democrats– voted to continue the ongoing bank welfare and which was attached a multi-million-dollar highway bill. (They also reauthorized the charter for the “controversial” Export Import Bank in the highway bill.) The primary holdouts were members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, co-chaired by Southern Arizona Congressman Raul Grijalva.

Ironically, the GOP didn’t want to add a long-term funding mechanism to pay for highway construction and repair. (I guess funding provisions are “must-haves” only when legislation focuses on food stamps, school lunches, college loans, unemployment, healthcare, public education, and Social Security.) Historically highways have been funded by the users through gas taxes…

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Smoke ‘Em, If You Got ‘Em: Bernie Sanders Introduces Marijuana Legalization in US Senate

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Bernie Sanders in Phoenix. (Photo by Dennis Gilman)
Bernie Sanders in Phoenix. (Photo by Dennis Gilman)

In the recent Democratic Party debate, Vermont Senator and Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders said he favored marijuana legalization, a stance that he had been hinting at for a while.

Sanders took a step further today by introducing a bill in the US Senate that would take marijuana off of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s “most dangerous drugs” list. (You’ll remember that two years after President Richard Nixon signed the Controlled Substances Act— which classified marijuana as a schedule 1 drug [no redeeming medical value]– Nixon’s drug policy advisers told him to legalize marijuana instead. Hating the hippies for their constant harassment of him and his Vietnam War policies, Nixon went the other way by locking down marijuana use, locking up marijuana users, and stopping all medical research into marijuana.)  Will marijuana users finally see justice?

Sanders’ Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act is similar to a bill in the House of Representatives proposed by Rep. Jared Polis, a Democrat from Colorado. From the Huffington Post...

“Just as alcohol prohibition failed in the 1920s, it’s clear marijuana prohibition is failing today,” Polis said in a statement. “For decades, the federal ban on marijuana has wasted tax dollars, impeded our criminal justice system, lined the pockets of drug cartels, and trampled on states’ ability to set their own public health laws. …

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Pima County Courthouse

Pima County Voters Revolt Against Bond Debt & Higher Taxes (video)

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Pima County CourthouseThe surprise upset in yesterday’s Pima County election was the total defeat of the 99-project, $816 million, 27-year Pima County Bond Issue package.

Tucson’s 1%, who bankrolled the Yes on Pima County Bonds campaign and who would have benefited from a win, lost big. They raised over $304,000 to convince citizens that the county could successfully borrow its way to prosperity and a better life, but in the end the vote wasn’t even close. “Invest in ourselves” was a brilliant, professional marketing campaign that engaged citizens and politicians in the selling the bond issue.

The most vocal opposition came from Taxpayers Against Pima County Bonds, a right-wing, grassroots effort with little funds but a lot of spunk. The “No” coalition called for no new taxes and pointed out the risk of long-term indebtedness. They also pointed out the crony capitalism and corporate welfare that was woven into each of the seven separate packages.

On the left edge of the political spectrum, Arizonans for a New Economy, also opposed the bond issue as unsustainable debt to Wall Street and too much corporate welfare. Public banking proponents believe that governments should self-fund projects– not borrow from Wall Street. Perhaps some of the local anti-Wall Street, pro-Bernie Sanders supporters also revolted against more debt to Wall Street.

Citizens who supported the bonds are wringing their hands on social media today. How can we possibly get the things we want without the without going into debt?

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GOP Debate: Kasich & Rubio Were Moderate, Others… Yikes!

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Tucson Progressive on FacebookThe Republican debate on October 28 was a political circus.  It was the wildest and most uncontrolled “debate” I have ever witnessed.

I realize that the Republican candidates are being hammered by the media for whining about how bad the CNBC moderators and their questions were, but I agree with them. The CNBC moderators were so bad that they made Anderson Cooper’s moderation of the Democratic Party debate look even-handed and skillful. They rudely shouted over the candidates, asked multiple gotcha questions that were designed to start arguements, and never once said, “Excuse me, Mr/Ms _______, but you didn’t answer the question.” They didn’t lose control; they never had it.

“The questions asked in this debate illustrate why the American people don’t trust the media. This is not a cage match,” Senator Ted Cruz complained at Wednesday’s Republican debate. He proceeded to (quite impressively) list one stupid question that was asked each candidate. I agree with him. These people are auditioning for the most powerful job in the world; they should be respected and asked meaningful political questions– at least most of the time– instead of being asked absurd questions that are designed to sell soap. It was appalling.

The post-debate banter by the mainstream media has been surprisingly homogeneous: Jeb! lost and Rubio won. Really? The post-debate banter after the recent Democratic Party event was all over the map. Bernie won! Hillary won! Anderson Cooper won! The Democratic Party won!

I think there were several surprises in the debate that no one is reporting…

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