How about a great labor song while I pack?

#standwithwendy against SB5

I'm not usually a fan of the filibuster, but damn son. Sen. Wendy Davis lasted for nine hours before the GOP broke her filibuster to prevent a vote on SB5 the Texas bill that would close all but 5 women's health clinics. At midnight (East Coast), she was still standing and still at 1:00 am, which is when this whole thing should have been over. Her democrat colleagues were trying to run out the clock with points of order inquiries, which are special inquiries and must be hear. The mens came to her aid, well the Democrat mens and even one pro-life female senator who thought they stop Sen. Davis' filibuster too soon.

Sen. Watson called out one point of order, which had everyone radio silent while the GOP trying to find away around it. The rotunda was full in the Texas state capital, and they were prepared to spend some time. When Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst called a vote, the gallery lite up. They chanted Wendy, let her speak, and eventually shame. The senators were unable to vote. The people were not silenced for 13 minutes before midnight, and then continued because the GOP tried to vote after midnight. At this point, Sens. Van De Putte, West, and Watson cried foul because the emergency session was over.

Mostly, this portion of the evening was about which rules the Texas GOP wanted to recognize and which they didn't. For example, they jumped the gun on silencing Davis because she strayed from topic, and then they didn't want to abide by the midnight rule. As the GOP voted after midnight, 180k people were watching on youtube alone, plus whatever was watching on the Texas Tribune. After that the Senate shut down the live-stream. As senators left, they were unsure whether they voted. Then troops were brought in. Is it just me or when you represent the people you usually don't have to be protected from them.

As of this morning, the bill is dead (this was from Sen. Davis' twitter). According to the New York Times: "But at 3a.m., Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, the presiding officer of the Senate and a Republican supporter of the bill, told lawmakers and reporters that although the bill passed on a 19-to-10 vote, the bill could not be signed in the presence of the Senate and was therefore dead, blaming "an unruly mob using Occupy Wall Street tactics" as the primary cause." Owned. Sounds like someone is looking for a scapegoat, but I don't think Occupy will mind in this case.

The quote of the night goes to Sen. Leticia Van De Putte: "At what point must a female senator raise her hand or her voice to be heard over the male colleagues in the room?"

This set off the gallery, and was when Lt. Gov. Dewhurst started pushing for the vote. But those damn ladyfolk and their constant chatter.

One of my favorite tweets this morning:

"An unruly mob using Occupy Wall Street tactics" killed #SB5 last night, says the Lt. Governor. Neat. #StandWithWendy #Occupy
— Angus Johnston (@studentactivism) June 26, 2013

This all goes to bring a few things to the front. 

1. Striking down the VRA is going to have long reaching consequences across the US as the GOP clings to power. 
2. The GOP is clinging to power, which means more attempts to prevent voting and restrict the rights of others. We're going to see this against women and people of color. I'm guessing because the swinging of public opinion they might leave the gays alone because DOMA will set the tone as to whether they continue to be GOP targets.
3. One person change democracy last night. Sen. Davis spoke truth to power, which inspired her colleagues, her constituents, and the nation. That said, this was an Occupation of the Texas Capital, and it was amazing. If there was a learning moment last night, it was that the tyranny of a few will not be tolerated, and if your government doesn't represent you then take it back.
4. The reproductive rights movement changed last night, or it should have. We'll have to wait and see what is next, specifically in Ohio. Ohio is gearing up for their anti-women fight, and it is going to be ugly. Most likely, the Ohio GOP will take notes on what happened last night like they did in Wisconsin after the anti-labor legislation both states tried to pass.
5. With the raise in Hispanic voters (and African American voter turnout, but specifically Hispanic in Texas) will Texas (and other swing or traditionally red states) go blue? This one I have no answer for. It was speculated after the Presidential Election and again with the talk of immigration reform. 
6. The largest lesson from Texas last night can be found below, which I think is adequate...

 

Because today is DOMA, so hold on to something and clutch some pearls. 

Racism is over, says Supreme Court

Colorlines has a piece up by Brentin Mock on the Supreme Court ruling that Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act, which determines what states and jurisdictions are covered by Section 5, is invalid. The areas covered are places where disenfranchisement of people of color or for whom English is their second language. USA! USA!

Chief Roberts, who has hated the Voting Rights Act since the 1980s, ruled the formula, which was last created in the late 1960s/early 1970s, needs to be updated by Congress so it covers areas that violate voting rights today…So everywhere with voter ID laws, the south, any place that has racist institutions and policies. I have it you guys, everywhere. Section 4 should apply everywhere.

Roberts majority opinion:

“In assessing the ‘current need’ for a preclearance system treating States differently from one another today, history since 1965 cannot be ignored. The Fifteenth Amendment is not designed to punish for the past; its purpose is to ensure a better future. To serve that purpose, Congress—if it is to divide the States must identify those jurisdictions to be singled out on a basis that makes sense in light of current conditions. It instead re-enacted a formula based on 40-year-old facts having no logical relation to the present day.”

Ginsburg naturally doesn’t agree:

“The sad irony of today’s decision lies in its utter failure to grasp why the VRA has proven effective. The Court appears to believe that the VRA’s success in eliminating the specific devices extant in 1965 means that preclearance is no longer needed.”

She continued to write:

“[T]he record for the 2006 reauthorization makes abundantly clear [that] second-generation barriers to minority voting rights have emerged in the covered jurisdictions as attempted substitutes for the first-generation barriers originally triggered preclearance in those jurisdictions.”

Mock says it isn’t a total loss because Section Five can stand if Congress is able to fix the formula so that areas currently running afoul of voting rights. This would be everywhere. Also, in what world is it a good idea to rely on Congress?

The states that this ruling affects are North Carolina, Virginia, Alabama, and Mississippi.

North Carolina: voter ID laws, which they are trying to restrict, cut early voting, penalize parents of college students who vote away from their parents’ home, implement the strictest felony disenfranchisement in the nation (which is impressive). Nothing is laws pass federal preclearance review under Section 5.

Virginia: voter ID bill which passed federal preclearance review last year, but they doubled down like idiots do. It won’t have to clear it this time.

Alabama: voter ID that goes into effect in 2014; it was submitted for review under Section 5, but was withdrawn last month.

Mississippi: voter ID bill passed last year, which will make it harder to black candidates to get elected.

None of these states have elected an African American to statewide office. But racism is over SCOTUS says so.

The most important part of Section 5 is that it prevents discrimination in the allocations of local power. So most likely, we’ll see the most passage of discriminating/racist bills not on a state level, but in the localities where they will be received with less of a fight.

SCOTUS wants us to trust Congress to revise the formula and then everything will be good, but we won’t see this passed unless we cut billions from SNAP and set up a militarized boarder because the House GOP are batshit crazy. So now we wait for the gays. Speculation is that DOMA will stand because Congress passed it despite Congress’ reauthorizing of the VRA. SCOTUS, now actively disenfranchising citizens. Don’t worry, Roberts will have corporations voting in no time so it won’t matter how many people they disenfranchise. #IHateEverything.

As an aside, I stayed up to watch Sen. Wendy Davis' filibuster, that was ended by the Texas GOP. The Dems held on and the gallery errupted to prevent the vote. The vote was taken after midnight. That is against the law. So just to be clear, the day SCOTUS repeals legislation to protect people when voting, the TX GOP broken the rules to restrict rights of women. 

Quote of the night belongs to Sen. Leticia Van de Putte who returned from her father's funeral for this: "At what point must a female senator raise her hand or her voice to be heard over the male colleagues in the room?"

At this point, I'd like to say: Sue all the things.

Texas Rep. Wendy Davis is speaking against SB5 right now

Rep. Davis is filibustering SB5, the super anti-woman, anti-choice bill that one of the sponsors equated rape kits with abortion. Because I hate my life.

Rep. Davis called out her colleagues for trying to go around their two-third majority rule and push this bill through. That is why she is doing this. Below is Rep. Davis speaking, as you can see none of her colleagues are listening to her, but she began by saying she will speak for the next 12 hours and 40 minutes. *don't read the comments*



This is important because these bills are moving across the Midwest. Ohio has one tied to the budget, which as you may remember means it can't be repealed by a ballot measure. I have nothing but respect for the women standing up to these tyrants. Hopefully, Rep. Davis will be successful.

Paying disabled workers less than minimum wage is wrong...

I swear to god the federal government is trolling me. So Goodwill and I have a complicated relationship. A family member of mine is employed with them as a technical writer and she also works with their consumers (mentally disabled individuals). Additionally, Goodwill does do some good providing employment with the mentally disabled and providing goods to the low income.

All that said, the more and more I hear about Goodwill the more disturbing the whole non-profit seems. Like many non-profits, Goodwill is operating much more like a corporation because non-profits have to compete with private for profit companies. On Friday, Katie Mcdonough wrote a piece for Salon on disabled workers pay from Goodwill, specifically, that Goodwill is paying less than minimum wage.

In 2011, Goodwill Industries (a multibillion-dollar non-profit) paid workers with disabilities in Pennsylvania wages as low as 22, 38, and 41 cents an hour, according to Labor Department records obtained by NBC News. Goodwill isn’t the only non-profit doing this. Apparently, there is a loophole in the federal labor law due to a Depression-era loophole in federal labor law, as reported by NBC:

“Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act, which was passed in 1938, allows employers to obtain special minimum wage certificates from the Department of Labor. The certificates give employers the right to pay disabled workers according to their abilities, with no bottom limit to the wage…The non-profit certificate holders can also place employees in outside, for-profit workplaces including restaurants, retail stores, hospitals and even Internal Revenues Service centers.”

Goodwill defends its practice as an attempt to provide jobs to people who need and want them, but disability and labor rights advocates call the loophole exploitative. It traps disabled workers in a system that places their value below those without disabilities. The Fair Waged for Workers with Disabilities Act of 2013 (H.R. 831) currently being considered in Congress to repeal Section 14 (c) and mandate employers fairly compensate workers. This faces fierce opposition from trade associations representing employers who benefit from the loophole.

Obviously, this bill should pass, but probably won’t. Awesome. *facepalm*

Kickstarter Apologizes

Below is the full post Kickstarter made after their decision not to pull the PUA Kickstarter that was pushing a pro-assault agenda. The project was funded reaching many times over its initial goal. Casey Malone brought this to everyone’s attention after pulling the rapey comments the creator, Ken Hoinsky, made on Reddit (I know you’re all shocked). The Kickstarter page was pretty innocuous, but I’ll confess I didn’t watch Hoinsky’s video because…gross and creepy. Also, I’m familiar with the Pick Up Art (PUA) mentality, which is rooted in entitlement and privilege. Entitled to women’s time, attention, and bodies so I have no interest in anything that these people have to say.

Malone brought Hoinsky to the attention of well, Twitter, the feminist blogosphere, etc. Jezebel had a few great pieces on all of this. Kickstarter after receiving an onslaught of tweets and people reporting the page decided they should respond by doing nothing. On Reddit, Kickstarter responded directly to Malone’s post with,

“This morning, material that a project creator posted on Reddit earlier this year was brought to our attention and the public’s attention just hours before the project’s deadline. Some of this material is abhorrent and inconsistent with our values as people and as an organization. Based on our current guidelines, however, the material on Reddit did not warrant the irreversible action of canceling the project.

“As stewards of Kickstarter we sometimes have to make difficult decisions. We followed the discussion around the web today very closely. It led to a lot of internal discussion and will lead to a further review of our policies.”

This response, while not exactly awesome, I can understand because current policies and the comments were made on Reddit not Kickstarter. My immediate thoughts went to, well how are you changing your policies? The skeptic in my thinks the project making just over $16,000 (8 times the goal) might also have something to do with it since Kickstarter takes a percentage.

Regardless, Friday, Kickstarter released a post apologizing for their lack of response. I'm kind of optimistic about this (ignoring the assumed Reddit/libertarian backlash) because it is an indication that online mobilization can yield results.

We were wrong

Dear everybody,

On Wednesday morning Kickstarter was sent a blog post quoting disturbing material found on Reddit. The offensive material was part of a draft for a “seduction guide” that someone was using Kickstarter to publish. The posts offended a lot of people — us included — and many asked us to cancel the creator’s project. We didn’t.

We were wrong.

Why didn’t we cancel the project when this material was brought to our attention? Two things influenced our decision:

• The decision had to be made immediately. We had only two hours from when we found out about the material to when the project was ending. We’ve never acted to remove a project that quickly. 
• Our processes, and everyday thinking, bias heavily toward creators. This is deeply ingrained. We feel a duty to our community — and our creators especially — to approach these investigations methodically as there is no margin for error in canceling a project. This thinking made us miss the forest for the trees.

These factors don’t excuse our decision but we hope they add clarity to how we arrived at it.

Let us be 100% clear: Content promoting or glorifying violence against women or anyone else has always been prohibited from Kickstarter. If a project page contains hateful or abusive material we don’t approve it in the first place. If we had seen this material when the project was submitted to Kickstarter (we didn’t), it never would have been approved. Kickstarter is committed to a culture of respect.

Where does this leave us?

First, there is no taking back money from the project or canceling funding after the fact. When the project was funded the backers’ money went directly from them to the creator. We missed the window.

Second, the project page has been removed from Kickstarter. The project has no place on our site. For transparency’s sake, a record of the page is cached here.

Third, we are prohibiting “seduction guides,” or anything similar, effective immediately. This material encourages misogynistic behavior and is inconsistent with our mission of funding creative works. These things do not belong on Kickstarter.

Fourth, today Kickstarter will donate $25,000 to an anti-sexual violence organization called RAINN. It’s an excellent organization that combats exactly the sort of problems our inaction may have encouraged.

We take our role as Kickstarter’s stewards very seriously. Kickstarter is one of the friendliest, most supportive places on the web and we’re committed to keeping it that way. We’re sorry for getting this so wrong.

Thank you,

Kickstarter

What this really comes down to is a serious lapse in judgment on Kickstarter's part. They are attempting to right it after the fact, but had they pulled the project when they were alerted to the issues then this would be unnecessary. I'm not super impressed with Kickstarter lately. Between the whole Garden State thing and this. There has to be a better way to fund projects. 

Hey Speaker Boehner, need a hug?

Much to my delight, Speaker John Boehner received another ass kicking on Thursday when the House of Representatives voted down the $940 billion farm bill. The vote was 234 nays to 195 yeas. Democrats felt the bill cut too much from SNAP, and Republicans thought it didn’t cut enough so the bill failed. Now they head back to the drawing board. You can’t see it, but I’m dancing in my chair a bit. Of course, I’m also worrying about the kind of cuts these bat-shit-crazy Republicans want.

I’m not going to rehash everything about this bill because I’ve written about it enough. I will note that President Obama did threaten to veto the House version of the bill, and the Senate passed one with $20.5 billion in cuts. The House bill wanted to cut $743.9 billion from SNAP. Take a minute. Yep, everyone involved goes to the special hell. Now, this will be back, and probably with deeper cuts to SNAP, and probably something crazy thrown in for good measure. But (with an act of god) maybe Obama can hold the line with a veto threat (doubt it though), and we know the Senate will push back a little. I’m predicting no less than $25 billion cut from SNAP.

On the political side of things, Boehner can’t get a break. You have to wonder if this guy has any pull left with his party. The only thing worse than incompetent GOP leadership is ineffective and incompetent GOP leadership. Boehner, go home, retire. Descent in the ranks is nothing but good news for us, but with the emphasis on targeting women, the poor, and people of color it makes me nervous. Last thing we want is Rep. Franks ascending in the ranks. Fingers-crossed the GOP impales themselves on immigration reform and lose a ton of seats next go round. 

Boehner ran right back to the debt ceiling by yesterday afternoon. Making threats and the like, but can all the Democrats lean in  and pay attention? He's weak. He's very weak. He's going to be in a tight spot on immigration reform, and maybe just maybe if you pretend you know how to perform politics we can get somewhere. Boehner may have to rely in Democrats to pass immigration reform, which could cost Boehner his speaker ship eventually.