California NOW

Monday's Action Checklist

We've written about this before but until it's taken care of, it warrants another mention.  Governor Brown has still not stopped the spraying of strawberries with cancer-causing Methyl Iodide, even after scientists have labeled it one of the most toxic chemicals on the planet.  What is he waiting for?  In addition to causing cancer, it's also known for inducing late-term miscarriages.   Take Action NOW:  Send a message to Governor Brown asking that he put a stop to this now.

Walmart, the nation’s largest private employer, announced last week it would be making dramatic cuts to the health care options it provides to associates. Premiums are going up by 20-60% for full time associates and those working less than 24 hours a week won’t be eligible for coverage at all.   Although Walmart employees have always made low wages, in the past year, they’ve seen their few benefits be cut significantly.  Take Action NOW:  You can help by going into Walmart (I know you typically never shop there) and hand this flyer to all the associates you can find, encouraging them to band together to say enough is enough.

The ACLU has uncovered and analyzed thousands of FBI documents and found that America's most powerful law enforcement agency is using its vastly expanded investigative authority to collect racial and ethnic information and "map" American communities around the country — based on crude stereotypes about which groups commit different types of crimes.  Take Action NOW:  Tell Attorney General Holder to put an end to this unconstitutional use of racial profiling.

Do These Protesters Look Dangerous?

We don't think so either but Oakland Mayor Jean Quan, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed have all chosen to use rank and file police officers as modern day Pinkertons against the 99% protesters.

The ironic part is that the 99% includes rank and file police officers.  The citizens rising up to form the “We Are The 99%” originally began gathering in Wisconsin and Ohio fighting assaults on public employees’ bargaining rights.  Every rank and file police officer needs to remember that the citizens who your supervisors and wrong-headed politicians are asking you to “police” are the very same folks who have been fighting for YOUR pay, for YOUR benefits, and for YOUR pensions.

Rank and file police officers, especially police labor representatives, need to step up and embody what it says on most of your police vehicles – to protect and serve.  That motto is supposed to apply to protecting and serving the people.   As Sgt. Shamar Thomas pointed out in Zucotti Park, there is no honor in police brutality.  Instead, police officers should  reach out and talk with the leaders of the Occupy movement in your city.  Be part of a process that respects free speech and public safety.

What makes the Occupy movement so unique is the fact that it isn’t some well-funded political operation controlled by a small secretive group.  Instead, it's made up of average citizens like you and me.  If you look at the video footage from the Occupy events, you’ll see every color, every religion, every age, every ethnic background and every walk of life.  It looks like America.

And despite what some have said, there is a clear message within this movement.  It's about how America is supposed to work.  It’s about fairness.  It’s about the 99% of us who have followed the rules and are still being told “you lose” while the other 1% (corporate banks and Wall Street firms) have, without apology, broken every rule in the book and somehow continue to win.  That’s not how America is supposed to work.

Unfortunately, Tuesday night Oakland Mayor Quan made bad choices, Interim Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan made bad choices, and some rank and file police officers made bad choices - all based on believing that peace can be accomplished through violence in the form of tear gas and rubber bullets.  Those bad choices resulted in an Iraq war veteran being critically injured.

Iraq War veteran Scott Olsen was injured after being hit in the head with a police projectile at Occupy Oakland two nights ago.  Olsen's family is waiting to see if he needs surgery.  If it's not required, he'll be moved to the intensive care unit.  Olsen is a member of Veterans for Peace and Iraq Veterans Against The War. IVAW is accepting donations for Olsen and his family.  On the organization's secure donation site, visitors may choose to allocate funds by typing "Scott Olsen" in the entry box titled "Special Projects." 

Unfortunately, Scott Olsen wasn’t the only casualty Tuesday night – democracy was as well.  The truth is, when the police are instructed to fire upon their own people  – mothers, children, those in wheelchairs and even those trying to aid the injured during a peaceful protest, our democracy is at risk.

Once it becomes a pattern for police to be used to attack peaceful protesters, parents will stop coming for fear their children will be hurt in an altercation with authorities.  People with disabilities won’t feel safe and will stay home.  Undocumented individuals will fear that if they show up to protest, they will be arrested.  Those who are barely getting by on what they earn now cannot take the risk of being arrested and missing work so they’ll stop participating in the movement.  If it becomes unsafe for the 99% to participate in the Occupy events, the movement will die and our democracy will be at risk.

When the 1% are the only ones left with unobstructed access to city hall, our democracy is at risk.  If rank and file police officers protect and serve only the 1%, our democracy is at risk.

It's important to understand that we cannot allow the 1% to succeed in separating the police from the 99% .  We need to ensure that the rank and file police officers are part of the 99% and are standing with us - not against us - working together in this movement.  Only then will the movement for economic justice be truly unstoppable.

Monday's Action Checklist

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is accepting comments until next Monday (October 31st) from the public concerning proposed regulations for the new state-based health insurance exchanges and qualified health plans under the new health care reform law. We need to make sure that women's access to insurance coverage for abortion care is made simple and affordable.  Take Action NOW: Click here to ask that the state-based health exchanges and the qualified health plans under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) assure that women are made aware of the availability of insurance plan riders for abortion care and that ease of payment be facilitated.

Each year, the FBI fails to count hundreds of thousands of rapes because their definition doesn't include forced oral sex, date rape cases where the victim was under the influence of alcohol or drugs, rapes involving women with mental disabilities and rapes of men or transgender people.  Take Action NOW:  Click here to tell FBI Director Robert Mueller and Attorney General Eric Holder to update the overly narrow, outdated “forcible rape” definition by signing this petition.

A new study by the Breast Cancer Fund shows that the dangerous toxic chemical BPA appears in a wide variety of canned foods specifically marketed towards kids like Campbell's Disney Princess Cool Shapes Pasta with Chicken in Chicken Broth and Campbell's Toy Story Fun Shapes noodles. BPA is linked to breast cancer, obesity, prostate cancer, learning disabilities, infertility, and more!  Take Action NOW:  Tell Campbell Soup Company, Con Agra (maker of Chef Boyardee), Annie's Homegrown and Hain Celestial (maker of Earth's Best) to stop marketing BPA to kids.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is developing a new conservation plan for the Arctic Refuge.  The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge thrives as one of our nation's most untouched wilderness areas. The Coastal Plain – the Refuge's biological heart – provides a vital home for hundreds of wildlife species – including polar bears.  We've all seen the heartbreaking images of polar bears trapped on shrinking ice blocks and swimming miles to try to find food. With the Arctic's vulnerable animals already threatened by climate change and struggling to survive, it is more important than ever to keep them safe from the hazards of oil and gas drilling.  Take Action NOW:  Tell Secretary Salazar and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect polar bears and their families by including the Coastal Plain in their new conservation plan.

And, finally for some good news....

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a bill that requires anti-choice “crisis pregnancy centers” (CPCs) to be honest in their advertising to women facing unplanned pregnancies!  There are more than 200 CPCs across California. Many of them use misleading and deceptive marketing practices to appeal to women who are seeking comprehensive reproductive-health services.  This includes paying for billboards, yellowpages.com listings, Google ad words, and other print advertising.  The bill is the first of its kind to be introduced in any U.S. city or county.  Take Action NOW:  Contact Board President David Chiu to thank the San Francisco Board of Supervisors for passing this important bill.

19 California Representatives Vote to Kill Women

There's no sugar-coating it.  Late yesterday, the US Congress, with votes from 19 California Representatives, passed H.R. 358 which will allow hospitals to kill pregnant women. 

H.R.358 would allow emergency rooms to refuse to provide a woman lifesaving, emergency abortion care...even if she will die without it.

While poll after poll shows that the American public wants legislators to focus on jobs and the economy, the Republican members of Congress have instead chosen to spend this legislative session targeting women.  Even with the national media now focused on the Occupy Wall Street movement, Republicans remain obsessed with controlling women.

H.R. 358 marks the seventh time this year House Republicans have chosen to undermine women’s access to health care.

First, it was redefining rape to deny health care coverage. Now, they want to allow hospitals to turn their backs on women in life-or-death situations. And, for the first time ever, this bill would restrict how women with private insurance can spend their own private dollars in purchasing health care.

So the questions is, how much longer are you going to sit on the sidelines as your life is continually threatened by this Congress?  This has gone beyond the issue of "choice" and has now become a war against women's health!

Let's be clear:  This Congress is waging an all-out war on women, with the most radical restrictions on women's health in our lifetimes.  We cannot stay silent in the face of this extreme effort to undermine women.

You might think this doesn't affect us here in California but you'd be wrong!

While no Democrat from California voted for this bill, every single California Republican Member of Congress voted yes.  That's 19 YES votes coming from California.  That's both embarrassing and unacceptable!

Is that really what the millions of women who live in San Diego, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, Bakersfield and Orange County want?  A representative who tells hospitals they can kill pregnant women?  Regardless of your party affiliation, this type of attack on women cannot go unchallenged.  We have to work together to change who represents us in Washington!

As Democratic California Representative Jackie Speier so eloquently said on the House floor yesterday, "What my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are trying to do is misogynistic.  We have created yet another opportunity for women to be cast in shackles."  

To listen to Congresswoman Speier's impassioned comments, click here.

In the upcoming 2012 election cycle, California NOW is committed to taking this battle directly to legislators who have waged this war against women.  No misogynist should be representing California.

But we can't do this alone.  We'll need your help to fight this extremist-led war against women.  Click here to donate NOW to help build our warchest for the 2012 election cycle.

Happy Anniversary...Now Let's Get to Work!

Today marks the 100th anniversary of women having the right to vote here in California.  As we look back at that historic day and celebrate, let's also think about how much more work there is to be done.

In every presidential election since 1980, more women have voted than men.  However, even though we make up more than half the population in this country and more than half the electorate, women are still grossly underrepresented on the local, state and federal level.  And too many of us have been voting against our own interests.

So, as we celebrate this historic anniversary, let's dedicate this next year to evening the political playing field by working to elect more women and let's ensure we're voting for candidates who truly understand and support our issues.