08.29.13
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Take the Fast Food Boycott Poll

Lowpayisnotok.org is a website that is galvanizing fast food workers today, 8/29/2013, to go on strike against low wages. After reading about a single mother who has been supporting two kids on $8.25 an hour for the last ten years, I am still shocked, saddened, angered and awed.  I am shocked that such a prosperous culture can, with a straight face, advocate that $300 gross per week is enough to live on anywhere in the United States.  I am saddened that this horrible lack of income for so many struggling Americans forces them into dangerous living situations, abysmal living conditions and sets them and their children on a path of poor or non-existent healthcare, obesity and disease.  It is truly infuriating that our government permits bloated, self-serving corporations to take advantage of struggling Americans while expecting tax payers to subsidize their businesses through food stamps,  and worst of all that these same corporations  continue to churn out blatantly poisonous non-food that endangers the health of every taxpayer who ingests it.  Lastly I am awed by the perseverance and the inner strength of the parents who work in the fast food industry and simply “do what must be done” for their families.

American citizens and taxpayers should take this as a call to arms that we’re tired of supporting McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s and all the other fast food corporations that push fat laden, disease causing non-food with the right hand.  With the left hand the same companies are pulling in profits from not paying decent wages because they KNOW that the government via the taxpayers, will pick up the slack.  How is it that corporations are treated like people under the law yet they exhibit none of the signs that a decent, sentient human being would?  Yet government is the entity that sympathizes, assists and gives hope to thousands of minimum wage workers.

Thursday August 29th, 2013 will come and go.  On Friday August 30th as many of us head out to enjoy a long holiday weekend that celebrates labor and how well paid, dedicated labor has made our country strong, we should vow to put an end to an industry that poisons us from the inside out, weakens our government, and perpetuates a culture of obesity and disease in America.

08.08.13
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Not A Godless Female Democrat

Recently I made a very important personal decision with which I have struggled for a very long time.  As I’ve become more engaged in the Democratic Party platform, I have found my affiliation with the Southern Baptist faith incongruent with my true spiritual and intellectual values.  A young, fiery, Baptist minister at a service I attended asked members of the congregation to stand up and give personal testimony.  He was very specific in inviting the ladies of the congregation to participate as long as they did not “preach to the men in the congregation” as the Bible strictly prohibits women from “prophesying” to men.  And that started it.  I really had never thought about women’s role in the church, and from that point on I was on fire to understand what God’s real guidance was for women.

Was it possible that I was not qualified to speak instructively to the congregation or lead prayer in a room with women, children AND men, but Billy Joe Jim Bob without even a high school GED WAS qualified and even encouraged to do so?  I just could not, at any level – intellectually or spiritually – reconcile that I, a successful member of executive management in my organization, a college graduate, national public speaker, and member of community and professional boards of directors was NOT welcome to participate at equal levels as any man in that church?  Clearly this did not sit well.  And in trying to explain to my husband how really disturbing this was, I became even more exasperated.  It went something like this:

Husband:    Do you WANT to preach to the congregation?

Me:                NO!

Husband:    Do you WANT to teach the Men’s Sunday school class?

Me:                HELL NO!

Husband:    Then what’s the problem?

Me:                 Sigh.

My husband is not a sexist.  Much.  Just kidding, he’s not.  However he IS an upper middle class, conservative white guy.  He has NEVER been told he can’t do something.  He was never told, in pre-Title IX days, that he couldn’t play a particular sport because of his gender.   200 years ago he would have been allowed to vote, and 2,000 years ago he would have been permitted to own property in virtually every culture on the planet.  I, on the other hand, couldn’t vote until relatively recently, and 2,000 years ago would have been little better than a 2 legged cow.  So he had absolutely no idea what I was talking about.  If I didn’t want to do it myself, why was it an issue?  I’m getting all riled up again, reliving the conversation.  Sigh.

What I did was read.  A lot.  And I learned that for each Christian denomination there was a different position on women in the church.  Thank God for that.  And many of those positions discussed a need to “apply a different lens” depending on what one was reading in the Bible.  Some truths are timeless.  Don’t murder, don’t lie, don’t steal.  I’m on board with that find those to be pretty applicable in any decade, century or millennia.  Illustrative lessons, the parables, require a lens that takes the timeless moral of the story and applies that moral to today’s situations.  Pretty simple.  Jesus’ parables about, well virtually everything, are still thematically applicable to most events today.

My real dilemma with the Southern Baptist church came with the historical lens.  Do I believe that Paul said what he said?  Absolutely – I believe he said that women should be quiet in church, that they should cover their heads and that they should not preach to men.  Do I believe that the exact same standard should be applied today?  Of course not.  In Paul’s time most women were not educated so why would you want them teaching men?  Or kids?  Or anyone?  The fact that women were NOT eligible for the same education as men is another issue for another day, but suffice it to say that uneducated people probably shouldn’t be teaching other people.  Shout out to Billy Joe Jim Bob teaching Sunday school today because he has a penis.

That simply doesn’t make sense in our world today.  The spirit of God is timeless.  Humanity striving to be more enlightened, like Jesus or Buddha, or whomever you see as an enlightened being, is why I think God put us all here together.  Loving each other as ourselves is timeless.

We don’t continue to teach the world is flat, nor do we teach that women and minorities are second class citizens in this day and age.  In no other place in the United States of America have I ever heard, with my own ears, that intelligent, professional women should still be relegated to the status of chattel (or cattle) as they were 2,000 years ago.  This same doctrine teaches that women should remain with their husbands, even if they and their children are being abused.

Wow.  That sounds like a couple of recent GOP Congressional votes, doesn’t it?

08.06.13
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Dual Minimum Wage

There are at least two types of workers that are competing for minimum wage jobs.  As I see it, from a purely unscientific perspective, the two large groupings of these workers are part time and full time workers.  The defining criteria between full and part time are chiefly and not  the number of hours worked.  Given that the 8 AM to 5 PM 40 hour work week is morphing into 30 hours a week averaged across a week, the universe of full time employees will surely be expanding. 

For better or for worse, because it is the current state of our country’s economy, even after the ACA goes into effect in 2015 there will still be those who depend on fast food, retail, or other minimum wage, unskilled employment as their primary source of income.  At the risk of over-generalizing the profile of a part time worker, I see those that seek part time employment as simply desiring to add income.  While this list is clearly not comprehensive, part time employees would include full time students, people with other full time jobs, retirees; stay at home moms looking for work while the kids are at school – basically anyone looking for supplementary income.  These types of workers optimally would not depend on part time work as their primary income source.

Full time workers, conversely, are those people that are working for the sole purpose of generating a primary income.  It is these people, and their families, that deserve earnings above the subsistence level.  In addition to health insurance, a full time worker who devotes their time and indeed their spiritual energy to the success of their employer should be deserving of at least a living wage. 

I believe there is room for a dual minimum wage – one for part time workers that have other primary sources of income, and one for workers that meet the criteria of “full time” under the Affordable Health Care Act. 

The other piece of that puzzle is what to do about companies whose business models depend on part time, low wage workers (shout out to Walmart).  One would hope that if a dual minimum wage were implemented along with the new ACA “full time” standard that there would be a mass exodus from the Walmarts of Kentucky to companies offering employment along with a little bit of dignity.

At the end of the day, isn’t it about dignity?  Don’t most of us want to feel proud of whatever activity into which we invest our time and energy?  If I work like a dog for a company that won’t invest in me I’m not sticking around long.  And while I DO stick around my work product might not be the best.  Once again, it seems like Democratic principles such as a decent living wage, health care to support a healthy workforce, and compassionate business models CAN and DO lead to better business overall.  What company doesn’t want a healthy, strong, loyal workforce?  Democratic principles, forged into our working psyche by labor unions, express and lead to a strong motivated workforce, and a healthy sustainable economy.

07.27.13
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The QOL Covenant

What is quality of life?  We all have a broad concept of what it means; however when it comes down to constructing an actual definition “quality of life” (QOL) is different things to different people.  In its simplest form we could say that QOL is the wellbeing, or absence thereof, in a society.  Nonetheless, the CDC has identified social, mental, and environmental constructs that all contribute, negatively and positively, to the overall QOL of a culture, political region, or civilization.

Wellbeing is the state of being happy, healthy and prosperous, and that is the promise that leaders and potential leaders make to their constituents. “Vote for me, and I promise to vote for your wellbeing.”  It is the covenant, or promise, that exists between an elected leader and his/her voters.  When God made His covenant with the Israelites, he promised to take care of them and lead them to the Promised Land.  In exchange all they had to do was honor and worship Him, and follow the rules that He laid down (see the Ten Commandments, should anyone need a refresher on this).

So it is with our elected officials.  We promise to elect them over and over and over and over, and they promise to vote with our best interests in mind – to take care of us.  Three people who have promised to vote with Kentucky’s “best interests” at heart have voted to:

  1. Abandon the most vulnerable women and children in Kentucky by voting against the Violence Against Women Act.
  2. Repeal the Affordable Health Care Act
  3. Desert fellow Americans in New Jersey by voting against federal disaster relief
  4. Continue America’s dependence on fossil fuels and Big Oil by voting against bio-fuel refinery development
  5. Disallow agricultural reform and increased funding to grow fresh fruits and vegetables
  6. Prevent jobs coming home
  7. Thwart small business tax relief

These government initiatives represent critical elements of Quality of Life.  Who says that the government should step aside and let people take care of themselves, regardless of how vulnerable and helpless they are?  We have all been helpless although we don’t remember it.  When we were infants, most of us were not told to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and take care of ourselves.  Those of us who were blessed enough to have parents or guardians to care for us were nurtured and guided until we were able to fend for ourselves.  Hopefully we were prepared to nurture and guide the successive generation. 

How exactly is that different than the government providing assistance to at risk children, people whose homes have been destroyed, families, seniors and veterans who need federal nutrition assistance through SNAP, and giving tax breaks and other economic development opportunities until they too can stand on their own?  Shouldn’t our goal be to prepare all Americans to nurture and guide successive generations toward prosperity, wellbeing, and the best QOL possible?

Take a look at the above list of seven government bills and funding initiatives, and tell me that each of these don’t support QOL.  You can’t.  Nobody can.  Because they do.  Democrats are about QOL – we want those vulnerable populations to be supported until they can stand alone.  We want a strong, healthy nation which can be achieved by assuring everyone has access to basic healthcare.  We want a secure nation with a foundation of economic strength and national security.  All of these are QOL issues, and all of them are supported by legislators other than the three Kentucky representatives on the Hill.

Those legislators have already broken their covenant with us, their constituents.  Let’s make a new covenant with candidates who truly will act in Kentucky’s best interest.

07.16.13
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It’s Not About FTA’s (Free Trade Agreements) – A Letter to Labor

Dear Labor Unions,

Please know that I support you and I see the tremendous value in an organized, highly skilled workforce.   Labor’s focus on technical education is exactly what the US need.  We NEED a larger segment of workers that are technical experts; that is the only way that our economic development in advanced industries like biotech, alternative energies, and construction using new architectural engineering will be successful.

In a recent conversation with a labor representative whom I respect greatly, I mentioned that a new free trade agreement (FTA) was on the horizon.  The labor rep responded heatedly that FTA’s are a terrible evil working against unions.  Now, I am not an expert on organized labor, but I do know my way around FTA’s.

FTA’s are about opening foreign markets to US exports – goods that are manufactured by US workers that hopefully include members of organized labor.  “The reduction of trade barriers and the creation of a more stable and transparent trading and investment environment make it easier and cheaper for U.S. companies to export their products and services to trading partner markets. Forty-one percent of U.S. goods exports went to FTA partner countries in 2010, with exports to those countries growing at a faster rate than exports to the rest of the world from 2009 to 2010, 23% vs. 20%.” (International Trade Administration website: http://trade.gov/fta/)

Yes, FTA’s also eliminate customs duties on goods imported to the US, which may make production in other countries appear to be a good business decision.  But I guarantee that US import duties, which average roughly 4% of an item’s value, is nowhere near to the savings in labor.  If a business can save 4% on import duties, but 80% on labor, where will they go?

We have no FTA’s with China, however production in China is so attractive because Chinese labor costs a tenth of US labor, and Chinese workers they typically work longer hours.  Chinese workers are, however, more than three times more likely to be killed on the job (Huffington Post, March 8, 2012).  Also, contrast the types of items produced in China (low cost apparel, electronics, furniture) with the higher value items produced in the US, like airplanes.  The outcome is that US workers are more productive because the durable goods produced are more sophisticated, better made and therefore more expensive.  That’s where the strength of organized labor comes in.  When our skilled workforce grows and amasses more technical knowledge the US can be confident as a global economic leader because quality wins every time.

 So it’s not about FTA’s. It’s about labor and more importantly, it’s about what we make here in the US and how we make it.  Raw materials can and should come from lesser developed economies.  Same for products that are the result of less sophisticated manufacturing (cut and sew, simple assembly processes, etc.)  THAT is the natural evolution of economies.  And a more highly evolved economy will make products for aerospace, nanotech, and green tech industries.

So in closing, I would say to my labor friend and his colleagues shoot for the moon and the green…..technologies.

07.13.13
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PROMOTE THE GENERAL WELFARE: WTF Does That Mean?

Dictionary.com:

pro·mote: verb

  1. To help or encourage to exist or flourish; further: to promote world peace.
  2. To advance in rank, dignity, position, etc. (opposed to demote ).
  3. Education . to put ahead to the next higher stage or grade, course or series of classes.
  4. to aid in organizing (business undertakings)

general: adjective

  1. Of or pertaining to all persons or things belonging to a group or category: a general meeting of the employees.
  2. Of, pertaining to, or true of such persons or things in the main, with possible exceptions; common to most;
  3. prevalent; usual: the general mood of the people.
  4. Not limited to one class, field, product, service, etc.; miscellaneous: the general public; general science.

welfare: noun

  1. The good fortune, health, happiness, prosperity, etc., of a person, group or organization;
  2. Well-being: to look after a child’s welfare; the physical or moral welfare of society.

Therefore the purpose of government is to help and encourage the prosperity, health and happiness of all people, not limited to one class. Now keeping in mind that the guys who wrote this were white slave owners, and these words did not include women and minorities, one concludes they were not the most inclusive group around. However the intent of that covenant with the citizens of the Baby USA (citizens being white guys, white guys and white guys) was clearly that EVERYONE has the inherent right to prosper, be happy, be healthy and be safe.

Wait, that sounds to me like:

  • The Affordable Healthcare Act
  • Let’s Move
  • Violence Against Women Act
  • Marriage Equality
  • Police officers. firefighters, emergency services
  • FEDERAL DISASTER ASSISTANCE

And every one of these things were OPPOSED by Kentucky’s representatives in the US House and the US Senate. Oh wait. They are privileged white guys. What year is this again? I know what next year is. Next year it will be 2014 and we have an opportunity to make a change for Kentucky and for women.

The power of government is sweeping and all-encompassing. Don’t believe me? Read the Constitution. Legislative, judicial and executive authority is powerful and all-encompassing, tempered with protections for the “blessings of liberty”. So government is the structure within which resides CHOICE: of faith, of sexual orientation, and of how one manages one’s own body, to the extent that choice does not adversely impact society.

The Right is the Party of Anti-Choice. They want to remove individual choice for other faiths, for women to choose what to do with their bodies, and for people to choose whom they will marry. Their policies do NOT promote the general welfare and they are, dare I say, ANTI-HUMAN.

Democrats are Pro Human Choice. Join us to learn more!

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