By The People; For The People

Steve Israel (D-NY) dropped the H.R. 567 bill. This bill is being introduced to stop the “revolving door” of former politicians who leave Congress only to return as a high-paid lobbyists after serving their mandatory stint of not lobbying for 1 year after leaving Congress.

Yesterday I read a post that has been circulating the internet. I assume this was some kind of right-wing smear propaganda to discourage people from supporting the minimum wage increase.

The original post compared fast food employee wages to military wages.

They make references like “Johnny fry-boy”,  “LaTisha McBurger Flipper” and “Baconator”. Here is the issue. You can’t expect your debate on minimum wage to be taken seriously when you degrade the employees at fast food establishments. As if to say, their hard work isn’t hard work at all. The biggest misconception is that the employees at these establishments are all teenagers.

You people are dating yourselves. This was true in the 50’s and 60’s. It’s 2016, this isn’t reality anymore. Labor data shows that 70% of the fast food industry workers are at least 20 years old. The typical “burger flipper” is 29 years old with a high school diploma, nearly 1/3 have some college experience and many are single parents raising families on $9.00 an hour.

87% of fast food industry workers lack employer health benefits, with nearly 1/5 of families living below the poverty line. So for all you staunch conservatives who complain about welfare, that’s $7B welfare payouts each year.

Someone pointed out that working in the fast food industry is just a “step up job”. I’m going to go through their post comment by comment.

“It is just a high school job, part-time job for extra money, working your way to management or owning the establishment.”

This is completely inaccurate. People 25-54 hold the largest share of fast food industry jobs in the U.S., 11% of employees are earning $7.25/hr. Minimum wage fast food jobs are not just teenagers looking for extra money while living with their parents. Most of them are trying to build a life for themselves while supporting their family.

The industry is majority Caucasian. 59% being over 16 years old and 56% over the age of 20. The National Employment Law Project reported that only 2.2% of employees hold managerial, professional or technical jobs. Something like nearly 90% have front line jobs with very little chance to advance.

I would encourage those who don’t understand the increase to pick up an economics book.  When people make more money, they spend more money. The economy grows.  $15.00 won’t result in major job losses. $15.00 is not likely to result in a hike in prices. Like Robert Reich said, “Higher minimum will also attract more workers into the job market”. The GOP doesn’t want you to know this.  95% of all new economic gains go to the top 1%.

So yes, raising the minimum wage is the right thing to do. It is good economics, it is good politics and it is good for the people who are living in poverty to have a chance at a better life. Minimum wage is exactly that. The minimum living wage! The Walton family has been paying their employees starvation wages. It is time for this to change. It is time for people to live with dignity.

More importantly, it is time for people such as the person who posted this original content to stop shaming people for the jobs that they have. Ironically, if these people were not working and receiving unemployment you would call them lazy. They’re out there, working damn hard. Pay them the wages they deserve.

Step out of your privilege and make sure our brothers and sisters can feed their kids. There is no reason why in the year 2016 people should be going hungry because they aren’t making enough money working multiple jobs for 7.00 an hour. You don’t see the housing market or health industry adjusting their costs for people who make starvation wages.

Finally, calling us “selfish” for standing and fighting for $15.00? Okay, don’t increase the minimum wage. Then you don’t get to complain when people are on government assistance because they’re living below the poverty line. Perhaps if you would support affordable education and tuition free college so that these people could get the education they need to be able to advance their skills to a field that provides a better life.

I have put off writing this for a few months now. After the abhorrent misinterpretation and media spin of Susan Sarandon’s words, I feel it is a pertinent time to introduce this piece. It isn’t meant to attack Secretary Clinton or her supporters. What I hope to achieve is an understanding of my voice as a Senator Sanders supporter and why this question is disrespectful. I’ve been supporting Senator Sanders since he announced he was running for President. In the last 3 1/2 months I’ve been volunteering for his campaign. In 2012 I was dedicated to President Obama’s re-election and gave everything I had to his campaign. This isn’t the first election where I have been intensely invested in my candidate’s success. In the time I’ve been volunteering and supporting Senator Sanders, one thing is clear. The passion; the commitment and tenacious zeal from supporters and volunteers are immeasurable. Last weekend a supporter had a photo taken of their tattoo. It said, “Speak for the silent, Stand for the broken”. I sense that subsumes everything we are fighting for. I don’t need to give you a campaign style stump speech and I’m not here to persuade you to vote for Senator Sanders. A consistent theme of continuity that runs heavily in the Democratic Party is the belief that the race is over and Secretary Clinton is the winner. What people, maybe even you, don’t realize is that every single day we are hearing people ask us when our candidate is going to drop out. The last time I checked we still have many states that are going to be voting. This is far from over. The media insists on painting a disingenuous landscape that we should give up. This undermining and dismissive pressure is unnecessary. So forgive me for being upset and exasperated when the question that we’re always harassed with is:

“Will you vote for Hillary if she is the nominee??” In my opinion and from my perspective, it is disrespectful and boorish to even entertain the thought that we should be prepared to vote for an opponent when the nomination hasn’t been decided. Secretary Clinton supporters of all people should know this. How did that feel in 2008? We are consistently being told we’re not going to win; our candidate is “unelectable”. His ideas are too big. He can’t get anything done. Not to mention the long list of colorful names I’ve been called on social media for not “supporting a woman”.

So the question, that immensely disrespectful and disparaging question does provoke a number of emotions. Stop asking this question. You may not realize it, but when you ask that question, you’re asking us to give up on our candidate. We aren’t going to capitulate anything right now. Secretary Clinton lost 5 / 6 of the last states by YUGE margins. You don’t see me jumping on your twitter or FB page asking you if you’ll support Senator Sanders because your candidate is weak. No. That is wrong. The honest answer to that insulting and disrespectful question is, I don’t know. I’m not sure what I will do if it isn’t Bernie. In my mind and in my heart he will be our nominee. This is usually the part where the opposition becomes irrational. That is okay, you’re entitled to your vote. I’m not going to disenfranchise you for who you want to vote for, even if you do it to me.

I can’t imagine a world where Bernie isn’t the nominee. I won’t even begin to try. I won’t apologize for it either. I ask that you stop shaming me for being 100% committed to Senator Sanders. When the convention is over, then we can talk about what the candidate has to do to win the oppositions vote. That isn’t just given to someone, it’s earned.

One thing I would like to point out is the number of Independents that Senator Sanders has supporting him. These are not people who are in bed with the Democratic Party. These voters are not loyal to your candidate and neither candidate is entitled to their vote. Votes are earned. There is no such thing as a “firewall”. These are human beings with a voice and those voices should be heard.

Why should I compromise my values, integrity, beliefs and trust? Why are we expected to settle? Why are we belittled for saying we won’t vote against our best interests? When did it become an expectation for us to settle for the status quo when the status quo isn’t working for us anymore? This is much deeper than voting for a democrat.

There will always be some who will vote for Trump. That’s politics, deal with it.  To formulate that there isn’t Hillary or Bust people is absurd. In 2008, half of the people supporting Hillary said they wouldn’t vote for Obama. Stop swinging at supporters whose candidate is still standing and mathematically still in the race.

I hear Secretary Clinton supporters claim they are being attacked. I’m sorry to hear that. I had no idea the media has been relentlessly plaguing your candidate after losing 5/6 states with the question, “Would you support Senator Sanders if he is the nominee?”  This in fact, hasn’t happened. I don’t condone any personal attacks, from either candidate’s supporters. Don’t pretend it is one sided. After what I’ve seen today from Clinton supporters going after Susan Sarandon, it is repugnant. We shouldn’t be attacking each other like we’re the GOP.

I’ve worked incredibly hard campaigning and rallying behind Senator Sanders. I have invested so much physically, emotionally, mentally and financially to see him win the nomination. I realize that there is always a risk that he could lose. What I did not expect was to have profoundly intelligent people turn so incompetent when it comes to allowing people their own voice in this election.

The most transcendental thing I’ve learned in volunteering is to treat people the way Bernie would treat them. I’m not here to make enemies or upset friends and family. There is only so much that I’m willing to endure. I won’t have my voice silenced. I won’t stop fighting for Senator Sanders. You aren’t going to get glorification if you’re one of the people who say they’ll vote for him. That’s your choice; it’s not some applause worthy notation. You’re not doing me a favor. Do it for you. To quote Nina Turner today, “Stay true to you”.  To my fellow supporters / volunteers, be mindful of others. Be respectful of the opposition. Talk about the facts and contrasts. Senator Sanders hasn’t given up on us; we can’t give up on him.

You should never ask

Last Sunday, Nina Turner said it perfectly; “The cause is right, the time is now”

Today was the hearing in Arizona for the voter fraud and shameful primary that took place last Tuesday.

The hearing started with an introduction by Helen Purcell. It took a strange turn when she had someone deliver a powerpoint presentation. Thankfully chair Michelle Ugenti-Rita wasn’t having it and made Helen Purcell get up and address members and the audience directly.

Arizona State Representative Larkin should get a lot of credit today. He was the first to call for Purcell’s resignation. He was urging Ugenti-Rita to allow citizens to provide testimony early in the hearing.

Representative J.D. Mesnard (R-Chandler) was doing his best to interrupt Representative Larkin. He went as far as to mock the audience with “Do you guys even know what 1516 is?”.

What I found absolutely fascinating was the exchange between Representative Ken Clark and Secretary of State Michele Reagan. Secretary Reagan said, “If you want the taxpayers to pay for a primary, all voters should bea ble to participate”.

A little backstory on this; If you are an Independent voter. Your taxpayer dollars are paying for the primary. Yet, Arizona has a closed primary, so unless you change your party affiliation, you are unable to participate in voting even though you are paying for it.

Representative Clark delivered a very important piece of information. He introduced a bill on the floor that funded the primary. Included in this bill was an amendment to let ALL voters participate. During the hearing, Rep-Clark said that Secretary Reagan’s office had rejected the bill! This was followed by a lot of booing, and rightfully so.

Representative Larkin was able to convince the chair to hear from the citizens. People were upset, angry and disappointed that they had been disenfranchised. A man stood up and said the following, I’m paraphrasing his statement.

“Why didn’t we know about early voting? Because the media has their candidate and her name is Hillary Clinton. I know of about 4,000 people that had thier voting affiliation changed. They were all Bernie Sanders voters!”

Call it what you want. I find it incredibly discouraging and disheartening to call an election with 1% of precincts reporting. Was this part of a plan to discourage people in line to go home? Perhaps influencing them to think that their vote wouldn’t matter. I have no idea if that was the intent. It certainly doesn’t feel like a democracy.

Charles Carpenter summed it up perfectly when he said, “God. Are we having fun? This is why we can’t have anything nice.”

A rather disturbing testimony came from a poll worker. She recalled system glitches where people brought their voting cards which showed them registered as Democrat, yet when she put them in the system, it kicked out a Republican ballot and vice versa. She did a great job in documenting the information, giving the voters the correct ballots and adding notes to the ballots for audit purposes. What would have happened if she hadn’t taken the initiative? Would those votes have not counted? Would those people not have been able to vote? Nobody really addressed the issue of Spanish information that went out to voters giving them the WRONG DATE to vote.

Secretary Reagan offered a website link for people to “submit their stories”. How does submitting a story fix this problem? They don’t need to give you their story. They need you to let them vote. They need you to give them a day for their vote to count and their voices to be heard!

Almost every citizen called for an extra day of voting for those who were denied. The fact is, Illinois got to do it. Why can’t Arizona? Apparently Representative Mesnard said there would be no re-vote.

Full disclosure, I only read about 25% of the articles which dismiss Bernie or his vision for our future. I did read this one. I'm not posting it for the article as much as I'm posting for the comment written by Celeo R. Guifarro. It's lengthy but worth the time!

"To summarize this article --- The political system is bought. When legislation that serves the public interest is passed (such as Obamacare or Medicare advantage) it only passed because enough powrful industries saw profit in it. Meaning, the public doesn't get what it wants, the oligarch does. Then you use the example of the public option, even though the NYT at the time leaked the white house abandoned the public option prior to the debate in exchange for support from the pharm industries.... Finally, you argue the problem with Sander's plan is that it could never pass congress because too many powerful groups would lose money and those folk own the congress.

Then you finally argue we should support Clinton because she can get stuff done in the current political climate, and medicare-for-all is a great idea but for later in time....