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
Broadway Blvd.

June 9 City Council Meeting: Broadway Coalition Redux #10? (I’ve Lost Count)

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Broadway Blvd.
Campbell and Broadway intersection on the latest Broadway widening project maps.

How wide should Broadway Blvd. be between the Snake Bridge and Country Club Rd? This seems like a never-ending question, but today– June 9– is a big day. Today, the Tucson City Council will vote on moving forward with the Broadway widening project.

You’ll remember that the Broadway Citizens Task Force meetings over the last few months have been filled with drama and intrigue. Originally, powers that be in the city/county wanted to widen Broadway to eight lanes, based upon flawed traffic projections from 20 years ago. Over and over again in meetings and on comment cards, the citizens of Tucson have said that expansion was not necessary because the city didn’t grow east, as projected– besides the fact that expansion to 8 lanes would destroy historic buildings and put small businesses out of business. That 8-lane idea was beaten back, but still the “pro-car” … er… “pro-growth” forces tried to manipulate the process.

Also, on tonight’s agenda is a discussion of the Sun Tran budget and potential route changes.

So– if you support sustainable, historically sensitive growth and transportation, come to today’s Mayor and Council Meeting and show your solidarity with the Broadway Coalition and the Tucson Bus Riders Union. Below are the details about the Broadway widening and about Sun Tran…

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#TPP, #TTIP & #TiSA: Global Secret Trade Deals Will Make Government Irrelevant

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CorporateFlagSince 2013, WikiLeaks has been releasing successive chapters of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

Without Julian Assange and WikiLeaks, the citizens of the world would know nothing about the future that multinational corporations are planning for us– a world where workers are paid as little as possible, where Internet freedom will no longer exist, where drug patents will be extended (thus eliminating generic drugs), where corporations can sue governments for potential loss of profits, where environmental, public health, and labor laws will be gutted for the good of the greedy, where privatization will maximize profits and minimize service, where the idea of government acting for public good will be sacrificed in order to raise profits of the few.

The richest 1% already own half of the world’s wealth, but apparently, that’s not enough. In addition to currently negotiating the TPP in secret, two other global “free” trade agreements also are being negotiated — the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), which is the TPP for countries on the Atlantic Ocean, and Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA), which covers global services.

This week, WikiLeaks turned its focus to the TiSA by releasing 17 TiSA-related documents including 11 full chapters. The outline for the TiSA has been in place for almost a year, but the corporate plan to keep these documents secret for five years after the plan is signed has been foiled by WikiLeaks. (What would we do without whistle blowers?!)

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TPP

Call Your Arizona Congressional Rep on #TPP National Day of Action (video)

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stop tpp signActivists worldwide have been organizing, educating, protesting, writing, and sharing stories and videos to tell the citizens of the world just how bad the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal is for people.  After all, anything written in secret by 600 multinational corporations can’t be good for us.

This Wednesday– June 3, 2015– is another national day of action against the TPP. Organizers are calling on us– all of us– to call our representatives in the US House of Representatives on Wednesday and tell them to vote NO on the fast track authorization for the TPP.

The top three people to call in Arizona are Representatives:

Martha McSally: Ron Barber stood with workers and opposed the TPP. What about you, Martha? Will she stand for corporate people or humans? (BTW, On June 3,  the TPP Flushers will be protesting in front of Martha’s office at 4400 E. Broadway Blvd at 9:30 a.m. Bring signs.)

Kyrsten Sinama: She has been a Wall Street darling since she went to Congress, but a recent anti-TPP protest at her office may have sparked a no vote on the TPP. Let’s encourage her to stand with us this time– instead of Wall Street.

Ann Kirkpatrick: Ann is a blue dog Democrat, but in the last Congress she had a better voting record than Sinema or Barber, when it came to issues that would help everyday Arizonans. Ann recently announced that she will challenge Senator John McCain for for the Senate in 2016. Show us how different you are from McCain and vote NO on the TPP, Ann! (Don’t make Barber’s mistake of not sufficiently separating your views from your opponent’s.)

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#StopFastTrack Nationwide #TPP Call-in Day on June 3 (video)

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tpp democracyActivists around the globe are fighting the secret corporate takeover “free” trade deal know as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The fast track authority for the TPP is being heard in Congress now. Republicans and President Barack “Wall Street” Obama want the TPP fast track authority to pass. (Fast track authority allows presidents to negotiate trade deals without all of those messy Congressional debates and any of that unpredictable public input. This is how we got NAFTA and multiple other “free” trade deals that have hurt American workers.)
Progressives and most Democrats in Congress are against the TPP and fast track authority– mostly because it is a SECRET deal negotiated by 600 corporations and what we do know about it is bad for middle class Americans. (Only selected sections of the TPP have been released by WikiLeaks. Obama has been keeping the rest a secret. Why?!)
Recently the Arizona Daily Star reported that Congressional phone calls on the TPP are running 25 to 1 against it. To keep up the pressure, a national day of Congressional phone calls has been planned for June 3. Below are the details from the Citizens Trade Campaign. #StopFastTrack #FlushTheTPP

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Progressives: Let’s Move Hillary and Bernie to the Left (video)

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Several long-term politicians and a few wannabes have thrown their hats into the ring for the 2016 presidential bid (or are at least hinting at it). Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders and Republicans Ted Cruz, Ben Carson, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Mike Huckabee, and Carly Fiornia have declared. (See the complete list on the New York Times here.) Progressives– disappointed … Read more