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

Boehner Defiantly Rationalizes GOP Madness, as Stephanopoulos Presses for Shutdown End Game Strategy (video)

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by Pamela Powers Hannley

A week ago, Republican grandstanding in the House of Representatives shutdown the US government. Saying they want to "save the American people from the threat of Obamacare" Tea Party anarchists are risking the health and welfare of millions of Americans, our standing as a world leader, and our financial health as a nation, as they stall budget negotiations. This is beyond unconscionable. It is traitorous.

Bankrolled by the Koch Brothers and a handful of capitalists bent on denying affordable health care to millions of Americans, Republicans in the House of Representatives continue to use double speak lie to cloud the issues and deflect blame for this dangerous brinksmanship away from themselves.

From Esquire…

We have elected a national legislature in which the true power resides in a cabal of vandals, a nihilistic brigade that believes that its opposition to a bill directing millions of new customers to the nation's insurance companies is the equivalent of standing up to the Nazis in 1938, to the bravery of the passengers on Flight 93 on September 11, 2001, and to Mel Gibson's account of the Scottish Wars of Independence in the 13th Century. We have elected a national legislature that looks into the mirror and sees itself already cast in marble.

We did this. We looked at our great legacy of self-government and we handed ourselves over to the reign of morons. 

[Video after the jump.]

On Occupy’s 2nd Anniversary: The World Says ‘End Austerity Now!’ (video)

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Camping144-sig-sm72by Pamela Powers Hannley

What began on Sept 17, 2011 as an extended sit-in in a park in Manhattan– the bastion of US capitalism– the Occupy Movement grew into a worldwide movement with a simple message, "We are the 99%."

And we are oppressed by the 1% who own the world's wealth.

Occupy's we're-all-in-this-together– regardless of age, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, ability, or location on the globe– message presented an ah-ha moment and raised the class consciousness of millions of people.

Despite being ignored by the mainstream media, within weeks, Occupy encampments sprung up across the US, around the world, and here in Tucson.

Although small-scale compared to big-city encampments, Occupy Tucson was one of the longest running, ongoing encampments and one of the most harassed by local police and one of the most ignored by the local media. Hundreds of tickets for violating park curfews were issued to Tucson Occupiers in nightly park sweeps. At one point in 2011, more Occupy tickets had been issued in Tucson than in any other US city– except for New York City.

Today, Occupy Tucson lives on– not in the parks– but in a small office in the Alliance for Global Justice headquarters, where several activist groups share space. Well-known local Occupiers and their allies regularly speak out or organize actions related to ending corporate personhood, stopping Citizens United, building a sustainable community, ending drone warfare, stopping genetically modified foods, and other issues of the day.  [Video links and the impact of Occupy after the jump.]

Affordable Care Act Claims: PolitiFact Sorts Fact from Fiction

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by Pamela Powers Hannley

As the Republican Congressional circus continues, October 1– the federal budget deadline and the Affordable Care Act health exchange roll-out date– is fast approaching.

Teapublican Senatorial crusaders Ted Cruz and Mike Lee and others are spreading tons of misinformation about the Affordable Care Act (AKA Obamacare).

To counter the misinformation, PolitiFact has provided this great list of facts– to counter the "pants-on-fire" lies.

1. The health care law rations care, like systems in Canada and Great Britain. False.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott, July 2, 2012,  in an interview on Fox News

The health care law is not socialized medicine. Instead, it leaves in place the private health care system that follows free market principles. The law does put more regulations on health insurance companies. It also fines most large employers who fail to provide insurance for their employees, and it requires all individuals to have health insurance. This is unlike the systems in either Britain or Canada. In Britain, doctors are employees of the government, while in Canada, the government pays most medical bills as part of a single-payer system. The U.S. health care law has neither of those features. PolitiFact has rated this claim and others like it False.

Ronnie & Nancy Scold Congress for ‘Bringing the Country to the Edge of Default’ (video)

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Ronald-Reagan-publicby Pamela Powers Hannley

President Ronald Reagan has been elevated to God-like status by contemporary Republicans– particularly those who still believe in trickledown economics, union-busting, Welfare Queens, the "vegetable" ketchup, and spending BIG BUCKS on the military-industrial complex, while taking food out of the mouths of children.

So, although the Gipper might agree in theory with the cannibals in the House of Representatives who are trying to destroy the social fabric of our country by denying food to the poor, he would not agree with their irresponsible tactic of repeatedly bringing the country to the brink of a shutdown just to make political points.

Check out this recording from 1987 (below) in which he scolds Congress for exactly the brinksmanship that his contemporary fans are pursuing now.

Climate Smart Southwest: Are YOU Ready for Climate Change?

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Climate-smart-southwest-logoby Pamela Powers Hannley

Is it hot enough for ya?

In the coming years, as temperatures rise, weather patterns evolve, and plant and animal species become extinct, that wry, old country greeting will lose it’s quaint humor. Thanks to global warming.

The Southwest is already the hottest and driest part of the US. And our region is already experiencing longer and more intense heat waves, a dramatic spike in forest fires and severe dust storms, and changes in rainfall and seasonal snowmelt. These changes threaten water resources, food security, and public health.  As extreme weather events continue to increase, we will see higher rates of heat stress, newly emerging infectious diseases, asthma, and other respiratory illnesses.

How will the Sonoran Desert change as climate change progresses? Will we have enough water? What will our air quality be like if Arizona’s dirty coal-fired power plants continue to balk at environmental regulations?  How will Arizona cope with rolling brown outs if electrical demand spikes? How will Tucson’s vulnerable populations fare with more days over 100 degrees? What can we do NOW to lessen the impact of climate change on our fragile environment?

This coming weekend, Sept. 20-21, the Arizona Chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) is sponsoring an important conference for us desert dwellers:Climate Smart Southwest, Ready or Hot? Check out the details after the jump.