Iowans Talk about SJR2001 and the Traditional Family
by Paul Deaton
"This discussion is not
about traditional marriage, it is about the decimation of the middle class
brought on by the policies of President Ronald Reagan."
Last summer, at the lineup for a parade during our town
festival, the local Catholic priest walked up to our state representative and
asked for his position on “protecting the traditional family.” It was a
confusing question, and behind it was the question whether or not the elected
official would support a change in the Iowa constitution to define “marriage”
as “between a man and a woman.” When the representative said he would not
support such a change, the priest said in a loud voice, “Then I will do everything
I can to defeat you in the next election.”
A few minutes later, the priest brought over a member
of the Knights of Columbus to say that he felt he did not have a say in the
Iowa Supreme Court decision to overturn the 1998 law with this definition of
marriage. He explained that enabling the schools to recognize the validity of
what he called “non-traditional marriage” was undue pressure on him as a
working person trying to raise a traditional family.
The irony is that many of the members of the
Knights of Columbus in our town register their party preference as Republican
and it was a Republican president who initiated the social change that puts
pressure on working families of every political party. This discussion is not
about traditional marriage, it is about the decimation of the middle class
brought on by the policies of President Ronald Reagan.
Many of us are familiar with the film Roger and Me,
by the Flint, Michigan native and film maker Michael Moore. The film depicts
the human impact of auto plant closures on Flint natives during the late 1980s.
The closing of Buick City and other automobile manufacturing plants in Flint
was just a small slice of what the Reagan presidency did for working class
people. I experienced Flint, Michigan during the Reagan years first hand.
After the auto plants closed in Flint, I made a trip there to recruit truck drivers
from some of the 25% of the community that was unemployed. While we paid less
than what the auto workers had made, we found many takers for our non-union
jobs.
In that union town, people did not like non-union companies replacing the UAW
jobs. Protesters showed up when any company recruiting non-union workers came
to offer employment. I ran into these protesters more than once. One night the
four tires on my vehicle were slashed while I gave a presentation to a group of
about 25 people. I fixed the tires, went home and came back the next month
because I felt that eventually the bitterness would subside and economic needs
would drive people to take a job with a US company. I was wrong about that. The
way of life for many of the people I met was just plain gone.
We don’t often hear this part of the story of the
Reagan Revolution. It is a story about the internationalization of the auto
industry specifically and corporate America in general. It is a story about
moving production of goods to foreign lands where the cost of raw
materials, labor and government regulation favored making our automobiles,
washers and clothing. It is a story about when Mexico became too expensive, the
jobs moved to China and Southeast Asia, leaving behind a push that brings Mexican
immigrants to the United States to take jobs our citizens don’t want to support
their families. The Reagan years were harsh on families and created the roots
of the world in which we live today.
This week, Iowa SJR 2001, “A Joint Resolution proposing
an amendment to the Constitution of the State of Iowa
specifying marriage between one man and one woman as the only legal union that
is valid or recognized in the state,” failed
to get the support needed to pass in the Iowa legislature. I suspect we have not seen the last of this
debate in our communities.
The sooner we recognize that the debate is not about
the definition of marriage, but about the policies of our government and the
pressure these policies put on the middle class, the sooner we will stop
pointing blame at each other and work together to fix the society that started
breaking, partly as a result of the Ronald Reagan presidency.
If Washington is broken, then this work belongs to each
of us.
HCAN "Health Care Can't Wait" Rally at the Iowa State Fair
By Caroline Vernon
Last Friday on August 21st, Eastern Iowans from Progressive Action for the Common Good, the Quad Cities Federation of Labor, and NAMI of Scott County boarded a bus and traveled to the HCAN "Healthcare Can't Wait" Rally outside of the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines. We joined others from the area and around the state. Senator Grassley was finishing up his Ambassadorial tour - we were hoping to get his attention somehow, but by dumb luck and a little synchronistic guidance by the Universe, a few of us stumbled right on top of him.
Shortly after we got into the fair, it started to rain so a few of us sought cover in the closest building. It turned out to be WHO radio/TV station. Surpisingly, we could hear Grassley's
voice coming out of the speaker system but we could
not see him anywhere. We finally realized he was inside the small glass
booth at the back of the room - they had been recording live. When he came out of the recording session, I called out to
him, raised my bag full of money and said. "Senator Grassley, I have your money!
Thank you so much for your support!" He immediately came over and started talking
to me as if I were his long lost friend. I actually appreciated his engaging us as his handlers could have swept him off immediately but there were many people around and I imagine he was attempting to save face, or perhaps he was just feeling frisky.
It bears mentioning that I was dressed in black business attire, sporting a lapel pin that read, "Wealth-Mark Insurance CEO." I was carrying a black leather bag stuffed with $100 bills spilling out of the top. A picture of Senator Grassley was taped to the bag, framed by dollar signs.
Dan DeShane accompanied me. Farmer Dan was wearing his bib overalls and chewing on a stalk of grass when he walked up and joined our conversation while Vicki Walters took pictures of the exchange. Dan told the Senator he was
a farmer too and wanted the same health care as the senator -- Dan also
said, "Oh by the way, I get farm subsidies too just like you and your son and your
grandson." This put Grassley on the defensive, somewhat, as he replied, "oh, you don't want to listen."
I mentioned mental health parity and the need for a public option for
so many who have been systematically denied treatment by private insurers for decades. Grassley laid claim to the work he did on the Wellstone/Dominicci legislation (even though it took a Democratic Congress
to pass the bill last October and the provisions have yet to be implemented). Ultimately, Grassley said a public option would be rationed care, to which we replied, "We have rationed care now!" He rushed off right after that. Vicki took pictures of the
whole exchange - I will share them with BFI once they are developed.
Meanwhile, other rally participants were canvassing the neighborhood focusing their efforts on continuing to encourage Congressman Boswell to support Reform and a public option. The rally started at 2pm. I don't know what our final count was but I estimated about 50 of us were holding signs along the 30th St/Grand Ave entrance to the fair. Counter protesters showed up to join us -- approximately 10 of them.
Farmer Dan got into a passionate debate with one of the "teabaggers," who was complaining about the cost of health care reform and asking how we were going to pay for it. Here is a mock transcript of their exchange:
Teabagger: "We're spending too much money - where's it going to end?" Farmer Dan: "Where were you guys when the Bush administration squandered the huge surplus left by Clinton -- Where was your voice when they invaded and occupied two countries without even declaring war?" Teabagger: "We are moving toward socialism - where is it going to stop?" Farmer Dan: "Socialism? We just came out of eight years of fascism." Teabagger: "What do you mean?" Farmer Dan: "Bush
fired federal judges for their political leanings, he started illegal wiretapping without an order from the FISA Court, he catered to big business - we
had a president that was basically a fascist." Teabagger: "That's the president's perogotive." Farmer Dan: "No. that's fascism, and he is still being investigated for all of his abuses. If it weren't for social programs like Medicare which came out of the Johnson administration, my father would not have been able to retire - it gave him peace of mind so he could retire and it kept him on his property. By contrast Grassley is a rich farmer who gets subsidies whether he works the land or not - he's not really a farmer - he's a career politician." Teabagger: "Well, they all gotta go - Harkin, Grassley, Boswell - they all spend too much." Farmer Dan: "Our tax dollars pay for the sidewalks your standing on, the street out in front of us, the lights, fresh water, the sewers, our fire dept, public schools, our parks -- all of these things are paid for through our tax dollars that provide us with the standard and quality of life that we enjoy. I don't know about you but I like 'em."
The entire exchange was recorded live by Rob Dillard of Iowa Public Radio. Once we arrived home on the bus, a few of our fellow activists welcomed us back and reported hearing the exchange on NPR - unfortunately, we were unable to find it posted on their website.
Below are photos and some of the press coverage of the event. Thank you ICAN for taking the lead on this! It was well worth traveling across the state to join our voices with all of yours.
NOTE: Caryn Unsicker asked the reporter for the Register to relay how many of us there were in contrast to the counter protestors - to which he replied,"No! That's not my job -- my job is to report both sides!" Caryn said, "Your job is to report the facts." The numbers went unreported. ACTION: Call the Register and tell them to report ALL of the facts!
Iowa Public Radio broadcast a story including a debate
between a health care opponent and a health care advocate (farmer Dan) from the
Quad Cities – but I have not found a link to that online.
There was passing mention of HCAN “protest” in Grassley
state fair interview with Radio Iowa:
Call to Action: Don't Let The Haters Bully Us re Gay Marriage! You've probably received a robocall from Iowa's former Lt. Gov. Sally Pederson about One Iowa's campaign to fight the lobbyists/haters who are trying to bully the Iowa legislature into allowing a vote on an anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment.
Don't let the haters bully those of us who are socially tolerant!
Please contact your legislators now. Here's a quick and easy webform set up by One Iowa. Just enter your name and address and your Iowa legislators names will pop up for you. Thank you.
Iowa Continues To Be A Leader In Guaranteeing Civil Rights Friends,
We are at the forefront of history not only in Iowa but in the country. Please join me today in celebrating equal rights for all Iowans.
Senator Mike Gronstal, Iowa Senate Majority Leader April 3, 2009 This is a joint statement from Iowa Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal and Iowa House Speaker Pat Murphy on [Friday's] Supreme Court decision: "Thanks to today's decision, Iowa continues to be a leader in guaranteeing all of our citizens' equal rights. "The court has ruled today that when two Iowans promise to share their lives together, state law will respect that commitment, regardless of whether the couple is gay or straight. "When all is said and done, we believe the only lasting question about today's events will be why it took us so long. It is a tough question to answer because treating everyone fairly is really a matter of Iowa common sense and Iowa common decency. "Today, the Iowa Supreme Court has reaffirmed those Iowa values by ruling that gay and lesbian Iowans have all the same rights and responsibilities of citizenship as any other Iowan. "Iowa has always been a leader in the area of civil rights. "In 1839, the Iowa Supreme Court rejected slavery in a decision that found that a slave named Ralph became free when he stepped on Iowa soil, 26 years before the end of the Civil War decided the issue. "In 1868, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that racially segregated "separate but equal" schools had no place in Iowa, 85 years before the U.S. Supreme Court reached the same decision. "In 1873, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled against racial discrimination in public accommodations, 91 years before the U.S. Supreme Court reached the same decision. "In 1869, Iowa became the first state in the union to admit women to the practice of law. "In the case of recognizing loving relationships between two adults, the Iowa Supreme Court is once again taking a leadership position on civil rights. "Today, we congratulate the thousands of Iowans who now can express their love for each other and have it recognized by our laws." Peace and Progress, Senator Mike Gronstal
Iowa Supreme Court Declares Gay Marriage Ban Unconstitutional Dear Iowa, You Make Us Proud!
According to the New York Times, Iowa has become just the third state in the nation to approve same-sex marriage. The decision came down today when the Iowa Supreme Court unanimously ruled that a 1998 law prohibiting gay marriage was unconstitutional.
From the New York Times:
“The Iowa statute limiting civil marriage to a union between a man and a woman violates the equal protection clause of the Iowa Constitution,” the justices said in a summary of their decision.
And later in the ruling, they said: “Equal protection under the Iowa Constitution is essentially a direction that all persons similarly situated should be treated alike. Since territorial times, Iowa has given meaning to this constitutional provision, striking blows to slavery and segregation, and recognizing women’s rights. The court found the issue of same-sex marriage comes to it with the same importance as the landmark cases of the past.”
Here's a resolution, hot off the presses from Jerrold Nadler, Chair of the Constitution Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee: H.RES.1531, "Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the pResident of the United States should not issue pardons to senior members of his administration during the final 90 days of his term of office," Sponsor: Rep Nadler, Jerrold [NY-8] (introduced 11/20/2008). There is a petition promoting this resolution, through which you can write to your representative and senators here.
Please urge Senator Russ Feingold to introduce in the Senate the same resolution that Nadler has in the House.
Never before has a pResident pardoned himself or his subordinates for crimes he authorized.The idea that the pardon power constitutionally includes such pardons ignores a thousand year tradition in which no man can sit in judgment of himself, and the fact that James Madison and George Mason argued that the reason we needed the impeachment power was that a president might some day try to pardon someone for a crime that he himself was involved in. The problem is not preemptive pardons of people not yet tried and convicted. The problem is not blanket pardons of unnamed masses of people. Both of those types of pardons have been issued in the past and have their appropriate place. The problem is the complete elimination of any semblance of the rule of law by pardoning one's own subordinates for crimes you instructed them to commit.
Yes, of course, there's something absurd about knowing that a president authorized crimes, not impeaching him, not prosecuting him, not proposing any action with any teeth at all, but formally objecting to the idea of him issuing pardons of his own subordinates for crimes he authorized. But this is where we are. State, local, civil, foreign, and international prosecutions are likely ways of holding Bush, Cheney, and gang accountable, and pardons can't interfere with them. Pardons can't interfere with impeachment. But if we allow these pardons, we not only guarantee no federal prosecutions, and not only give Congress an excuse to drop its investigations, but we also establish the precedent that from here on out any president can violate any law and then pardon the crime. This is simply to end the idea of law. We cannot allow that.
We need to work with Congressman Nadler and Senator Feingold to promote awareness of what is wrong with self-pardons. In this way we can prepare the American public for the appropriate response when the pardons come. The appropriate response will be to demand:
1. Immediate impeachment of Bush and Cheney, even if they are out of office.
2. Overturning of the pardons, as Bush's lawyers told him he could do to Clinton's pardon of Marc Rich, which was a far more minor abuse of the pardon power.
3. Legislation banning self-pardons and pardons of crimes authorized by the president.
4. A Constitutional Amendment banning self-pardons and pardons of crimes authorized by the president.
5. Prosecution of Bush, Cheney, and their subordinates for their crimes.
Are Progressive Listserves Arbitarily being Blocked by AT&T?
By Caroline Vernon
A few months back, PACG (Progressive Action for the Common Good) started experiencing problems with our members dropping off our email list. Oddly, as site administrator, I was not receiving any official bounceback notices informing me of any undelivered email with the occasional exception of a full mailbox now and again.
It wasn’t until the first of this year that I realized the extent of the problem and determined that most of our Mediacom and Yahoo users were being blocked from receiving our email. Last week I finally received a bounceback notice in my administrative inbox, with the names of almost 70 members which were”blocked for abuse”. As it turns out, many of these members had not been receiving our email for weeks and in some cases months, so I was very concerned as to why I only recently received the bounceback notice. This indicates that the data was blocked going out and coming in. I immediately contacted Mediacom and after much wrangling was told that the problem lies with AT&T as they manage the traffic for both carriers. A Mediacom representative actually told me we had been “blacklisted” but did not know why. I then contacted AT&T, following their recommended protocol and providing them with all pertinent information via email as no telephone number is available.
After 3 days, and no response from AT&T, I filed an official complaint with Congressman Braley’s Davenport office who in turn filed a complaint with the FCC. At that time, the FCC indicated they were receiving many similar complaints. The following day (yesterday) I received a response from AT&T which indicated that the block will be removed within 24 to 36 hours. A copy of their response is below.
I think it is important to mention that PACG has been advocating against telecom immunity within the FISA bill. We sent out many action alerts asking our members to contact their elected officials and even staged a funeral procession for the U.S. Constitution outside of Senator Grassley’s Davenport office. We were asking the Senator to vote against the bill that provided immunity, and to protect the Constitution. Channel 6 (KWQC) covered the event as did the Moline Dispatch. The related action alert that we sent out to our list was front and center on our website for many weeks.
As you may know, in January of this year, AT&T, Comcast, and others, announced that they would begin to take more aggressive steps to manage network traffic in order to minimize spam and safeguard against copyright infringement of video sharing, etc. Unfortunately, they seem to be inspecting for content other than what they have cited. PACG is an opt-in only email service. We do not send out spam or share video files although we may provide links to sites that do.
During the recent Hearing on Broadband Network Management, FCC Chairman, Kevin Martin stated,
“Obviously network operators can take reasonable steps to manage traffic, but they cannot arbitrarily block access.”
There is no justifiable reason to have blocked PACG for abuse as is sited in the communication below… nor is any explanation given as to why we were classified as such.
I have since received communications from other progressive organizations who have indicated that much of their email is also being blocked. Given AT&T's response below, it seems as though they are saying this may be an ongoing problem for many listserves, and they seem to be passing the buck right back to the carriers.
If any of your organizations are experiencing similar problems, I strongly recommend that you contact your Congressperson and/or Senators to file an official complaint with the FCC.
In order to track this issue more closely, I am creating a list of all organizations who are having similar problems with delivery of their email. I can be reached at carolina1961@gmail.com or 563-676-7580.
Response from AT&T:
Administrator/Customer:
Thank you for contacting the Postmaster/Abuse team at ATT.NET and BELLSOUTH.NET.
The mail-server IP address(es) associated with your request will be removed from the block-list within 24-36 hours from the receipt of this letter. ATT.NET and BELLSOUTH.NET, its affiliates, and network services customers do NOT intentionally block legitimate mail in the course of our anti-spam initiatives. We regret any inconvenience this may have caused.
Network administrators at ATT.NET and BELLSOUTH.NET closely analyze the mail stream bound for our customers to identify sources that exhibit the characteristics of compromised network objects or are compromised by an offender of Acceptable Use Policies. While a certain level of this kind of mail is to be expected in today's internet traffic, when this occurs above generous thresholds set by ATT.NET and BELLSOUTH.NET system administrators, immediate and decisive action is taken to protect our network resources.
****CUSTOMERS**** If you submitted an IP address for removal through the administrator's webform, or requested removal by emailing abuse_rbl@abuse-att.net, the administrator of the sending mail service or hosting provider is unaware of the issue and the IP may be blocked again. It is imperative that the sending service or hosting provider be made aware of the issue. Please send this message, along with the error message to that administrator so action may be taken to resolve the issues that caused the block. If you forward mail from a hosting service to your ATT.NET and BELLSOUTH.NET mail account, read the note on forwarded mail below.
****ADMINSTRATORS**** Please thoroughly check your IP logs before requesting removal. If you have already been removed, please examine your logs for rogue traffic, AUP offenders, and compromised scripts or objects. You must determine that all traffic from the blocked IP is actually from your mail servers to ensure your network is not compromised. Administrators who fail to do this may experience subsequent and more resolute blocking.
Thank you for helping the ATT.NET and BELLSOUTH.NET network combat network abuse in all its forms.
Regards,
ATT.NET and BELLSOUTH.NET Postmaster/Abuse Team
****FORWARDED MAIL**** If you are forwarding mail from a vanity domain, hosting service, or any other mail account that receives a high volume of spam, you may be indirectly contributing to the blocking of that IP. Forwarded spam is still spam and should be filtered at the source to end the abuse of network resources at the earliest point. Users can do this by utilizing spam filtering tools provided by the hosting service or external Internet Service Provider before it is forwarded to your ATT.NET and BELLSOUTH.NET.
Statement of FCC Chairman Kevin Martin on Broadband Network Management Hearing:
Controversial
Rabbi Michael Lerner to Speak at Spiritual Progressives Conference Nov. 3rd in the Quad Cities
By James Lee
As
the Election Season closes in on the Quad Cities, people are looking at the
vast challenges facing our country and questioning how
individual citizens can make a difference. According to
national polling, over 70% of Americans feel that our nation is on the "wrong
track".Organizers of the
Spiritual Progressives Conference feel the answers to many
of our concerns and worries are rooted in our values, faith and spirituality.
Quad
Cities Progressive Action for the Common Good (PACG) in conjunction with Churches
United of the Quad Cities, Democracy for America–Quad Cities,
Davenport Unitarian Church,
Edwards Congregational-UCC, First Congregational-UCC, Network for Spiritual
Progressives, and a host of other supporters are
sponsoring a Spiritual Progressives Conference on November 3, 2007. The theme of the conference is: Living our Faith:
Integrating Values and Politics in the Heartland.
PURPOSE OF THE CONFERENCE
The purpose of this conference is to promote the voice of progressive
people into the national conversation on issues of values, faith and spirituality.
The conference is
designed to dig beneath the surface of controversial national issues &
public policy debates to get to the core of how we decide what makes our
society a healthy place to live.
It is our hope that the conference will help the public better
understand how to more effectively integrate progressive values with political
action that can create positive change in our nation.
Conference organizers assert that progressives have
been the social innovators who have initiated changes in our society that have
given us more freedom, liberty, and equality. Progressives believe in
continually improving our society in order to assist as many people as possible
to achieve a better life for themselves, their families and the community as a
whole.During this time of national
drift when confusion seems widespread over what America represents and truly
believes, progressive people must amplify their voices in the public conversation
on what we value as a nation.
We reject the tactic of using religion and spiritual traditions
to be a divisive force in our nation; pitting one group of Americans against
another group.We believe that ethics and morality cannot be claimed
as the property of a single religion or political group, but must be understood
in the context of furthering the well being of all humanity, present and
future.
The conference will cover three main
areas:
1) Promoting a conversation on Progressive Values, Faith & and Spirituality
2) Organizing Progressives for political action
3) Creating healthy personal & inner lives for progressive people
The key-note speaker,
Rabbi Michael Lerner, will examine the question of how our values are translated
into political action. Rabbi Lerner is an internationally
renowned social theorist, theologian, editor of Tikkun magazine, and author of The Left Hand of God: Taking Back Our
Country from the Religious Right. He has a PhD from the University of California,
Berkeley and is
the founder of the Network for Spiritual Progressives.
Faith, values, and spirituality play an important role in responding to the many challenges we
face in our country today. The primary focus of
this conference will be to explore how our values, faith, and
spirituality can direct political action and transform our nation and our world. In so doing, this conference will be
addressing the most serious issues facing our
communities such as affordable, quality health care, the war, and global warming
to name a few.
Conference
workshops include topics such as "Challenging
the Misuse of God and Religion by the Religious Right", "Global Consciousness
and Ecological Sanity", "Our Common Values" and "Grounding Justice Work in
Spiritual Practice".
To learn more about other workshops which will be presented at this conference,
click here. To download the flyer to print (double-sided to conserve paper) go to our home page: www.qcprogressiveaction.org.
The Conference commences at 9:30am with a spiritual reflection on the state of
our world.Rabbi Michael Lerner will
speak at 10:15am.Workshops will continue throughout the day.
At 2:30pm Rabbi Lerner will be part of a panel discussion with local leaders on
the state of values and spirituality in our nation. Lunch will be served and
the conference will come to a close at 3:30pm.
This
event is open to the public; seating is limited.To Register, contact PACG at 563-676-7580 or go to our website for more information: www.qcprogressiveaction.org.
Event times and places
Interfaith
Service
The
conference begins with an Interfaith Service led by Rabbi Lerner on Friday evening,
November 2nd, 7pm at the Unitarian
Church, 3707 Eastern Avenue, Davenport, Iowa.
Spiritual
Progressives Conference
On
Saturday morning, November 3rd, the Spiritual Progressive Conference
will be held at the First Congregational Church-UCC, 2201 Seventh Avenue, Moline, IL 61265. Registration
starts at 9:30AM.
Book Signing with Rabbi Lerner
Saturday evening, November 3rd, 5:30pm at Borders Bookstore, 4000 E 53rd St in Davenport.
*IBLTV is a group of citizens from the Iowa City/Cedar Rapids area who are concerned about the decline in the quality of local television. Fight local media consolidation, as it leads to an unaccountable medium that enriches itself while disregarding the need to serve the public good.
*The rational counter to 'The Point,' 'The Counterpoint' critiques and corrects the daily editorial by Sinclair Broadcasting's corporate vice president, Mark Hyman, that is broadcast on all Sinclair-owned television stations across the country
You've probably received a robocall from Iowa's former Lt. Gov. Sally Pederson about One Iowa's campaign to fight the lobbyists/haters who are trying to bully the Iowa legislature into allowing a vote on an anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment.
Dear Iowa, You Make Us Proud!
Here's a resolution
