Raul Grijalva

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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Bernie Sanders Rally in Tucson

Sanders Covers Wide-Ranging Topics in Tucson #ICYMI (video)

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Bernie Sanders Rally in Tucson
Tucson feels the Bern.

I wasn’t prepared for Bernie Sanders’ 90-minute lallopalooza in Tucson on October 9, 2015.

Besides logistical issues, like not having a spare camera battery and running out of juice, wearing the wrong shoes for 90 minutes of standing, days of hounding the Sanders campaign about a press pass (only to find out that the Star was having the same problem as BfAZ), and the nagging feeling that one hand of the Sanders campaign didn’t know what the other was doing, I wasn’t prepared to like the event.

I have been on the fence about the Bernie Sanders vs Hillary Clinton race for months. I have liked and followed Hillary since she became the first First Lady to be a media punching bag because she had ambitions beyond serving tea and cookies. I can relate to her because we are both from the Midwest, we came of age during the same time period, we are both strong feminists, and we both spent our lives like Ginger Rogers— dancing backwards and in heels up the career ladder toward that ever-present glass ceiling. I like Sanders’ income inequality message and his proposals, but I have two primary questions: 1) How can he accomplish eve a quarter on what he proposes without a 100% progressive Congress (not just a Democratic Party Congress) and 2) Who will finally end decades of struggle for women’s equality— another long-term male politician or the first woman President? (Still waiting for answers on these.)

Bernie in Tucson videos after the jump.

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AZ GOP wants Dems to return Planned Parenthood contributions because of course they do.

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Crossposted from DemocraticDiva.com

I Love Planned Parenthood

Per Miriam Wasser in Tuesday’s New Times:

The Republican Party of Maricopa County is calling on four Democratic Arizona politicians to “return every penny” of the cumulative $45,000 in campaign contributions they received from Planned Parenthood in the last few years, and to “publicly rebuke fellow Democrats” for asking the Department of Justice to investigate the Center for Medical Progress — the fake company created by the anti-abortion activists behind two recent undercover videos purportedly detailing how Planned Parenthood “sells” fetal tissue.

“The voters of Arizona demand a higher ethical standard from their elected officials,” states a press release from the county GOP. “Democrats have once again shown that they care more about maintaining the steady flow of political donations from Planned Parenthood than they do about truth and justice.”

According to the press release, Planned Parenthood donated $22,500 to Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick, $14,999 to Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema, $5,000 to Congressman Ruben Gallego, and $3,000 to Congressman Raul Grijalva during the last few election cycles.

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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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