UNITE FOR JOBS RALLY, SEPT. 10TH

Join the MYD Health Committee, 1199 SEIU, the TMA Workers Union, and several other progressive unions on in Harlem on September 10th for a rally of solidarity for jobs!

This march has one purpose: to use our strength in numbers to demand an economy that works for all Americans, not just the top 1%.

United for Jobs Event Flier

The rally will start at 4:00 p.m. at the former North General Hospital on 122 Street and Madison Avenue, and will march to 134 Street on Lennox Avenue, right in front of Harlem Hospital.

It would be great to see you there! We need as many young people there as possible to help demonstrate that our economy is not just hurting blue collar workers, but also recent college graduates!

Please feel free to contact me at any time for more information: Health@gomyd.com

The Danger of National Ignorance

A true story of willful denial on a national scale (he’s talking about US).

“At its worst extreme, a culture of misinformation can produce something like Iran, which is run by a Holocaust denier.

It’s one thing to forget the past, with predictable consequences, as the favorite aphorism goes. But what about those who refuse to comprehend the present?”

Read the whole, depressing article here: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/25/building-a-nation-of-know-nothings/

It’s Over – Almost

After 7 1/2 years, Operation Iraqi Freedom is coming to an end.  MSNBC reports that the last full combat brigade has crossed the border into Kuwait.  There are still 50,000 troops in Iraq whose mission will be to train Iraqi soldiers and police officers, and another 6,000 combat troops who will leave Iraq by August 31st.   But for all intents and purposes, the war is over.  Promise kept.

The Awesomeness Of A Little Roof Paint… Who Knew?

Looking for that easy fix to prevent climate change? Here’s a no brainer that can make a big difference: white roof paint! What’s that? It’s a special coating with a high thermal mass and solar-reflective properties. In other words, it’s paint that keeps buildings cooler and lowers energy use, prevents roof damage, and traps less heat.

White roofs can make a big difference in the air temperature. That means a cooler city and climate change prevention. Here’s the story: What’s more? There is already momentum behind white roofs. President Obama supports them, and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (stimulus) provides funding for green jobs including weatherization and initiatives like white roof painting that both create jobs and curb climate change. For example, go HERE to see a few of the energy efficiency initiatives funded by our city with stimulus funds. So why isn’t every roof white? We’d like to know that too. You can help us fix the problem. GO HERE TODAY.  Make a donation of time, money or knowledge.  You can be part of the paint-it-white-go-green movement!

NYSYD Caucus of Color Position Openings

The NYSYD Caucus of Color has some leadership positions currently open. Jugba Santi the Caucus’ Downstate Region Vice Chair sent along more information, contact info is below.

Calling All Young Democrats!

The New York State Young Democrats Caucus of Color is the office youth of color arm of the New York State Democratic Party. The Caucus has various positions still available. These positions include:

Secretary

Capital Region Vice Chair

Upstate Vice Chair

Central Vice Chair

The Finance Chair

We also have three standing committees: The Political/Communications Committee, The Outreach Committee and the Finance Committee. If you are interested in any of these positions or committees, please email the Caucus at nyscoc[at]nysyd[dot]net.

In Case You Missed It: Hydrofracking Moratorium Passed NYS Senate

Big news from last week on an issue MYD’s Environmental Committee did some public education on, and dealt with in one of their 2009 policy papers. From the NYT’s Green Blog:

“This is the first action in the country to put the brakes on this type of drilling to give New York the time we need to assess the risks if we’re going to move forward responsibly,” said Katherine Nadeau, a program director with Environmental Advocates of New York.

New York City officials, who oppose drilling anywhere near the watersheds that supply drinking water to the city, welcomed the vote. Councilman James F. Gennaro, head of the City Council’s environmental protection committee, called it “a historic victory for all New Yorkers.”

Prop 8, AZ Immigration Laws and Healthcare Reform

As Taylor posted about below, today a federal judge in San Fransisco ruled that Proposition 8–which banned same sex marriage in the state of California–was unconstitutional.  The ruling highlights that:

Moral disapproval alone is an improper basis on which to deny rights to gay men and lesbians. The evidence shows conclusively that Proposition 8 enacts, without reason, a private moral view that same-sex couples are inferior to opposite-sex couples.

Furthermore, the court found that Proposition 8 violates the due process and equal protection rights of same sex couples.  One of the things that needs to be highlighted is that the judge in the case was originally nominated by the-deity-of-all-Republicans President Reagan and therefore cannot be deemed ’simply another liberal activist member of the judiciary’.  What’s even more ironic is that his original nomination was opposed by then Rep. Nancy Pelosi because she felt he was too insensitive to gays and lesbians in his work for the US Olympic Committee (this really happened).

The decision is AMAZING and is even better because of the fact that arguing against Prop 8 are the lawyers that represented Bush and Gore in Bush v. Gore from 2000. Yes, that’s right: W’s Solicitor General Ted Olsen is on board for the legalization of same sex marriage and working to make it happen.

What is even more interesting is the series of decisions made in the last few weeks by US District courts.  The first was the decision that the Arizona immigration laws are largely unconstitutional; the second the Prop 8 ruling; and the third was a decision in Virginia about healthcare reform.

The decision in Virginia hasn’t received nearly the same attention as the other two – but it is just as important.  In an attempt to undermine healthcare reform, Virginia passed a law exempting residents from the health insurance mandate passed by Congress earlier this year.  The lawsuit was filed in conjunction with the state law and says that Congress does not have the power to force people to have health insurance.  The administration filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit but a judge in VA ruled against the administration and provided the first legal victory against the reform law.  The ruling gives credibility to the notion that there is legitimate doubt about whether or not the Commerce clause grants Congress the right to mandate coverage.  If this case proceeds – and ultimately this will probably be decided by the Supreme Court – lasting healthcare reform may be far from certain.

Taken together the decisions highlight what a huge role that the judiciary plays in shaping American progress or impeding it (think Citizens United).  Judges matter, and their ability to apply the Constitution and support the enormity of rights and opportunities it expresses is forever our greatest advocate.  Today was yet another example that the Constitution is on our side in the fight for same sex marriage and that we continue to see progress (albeit wayyyy to slowly).

+1 For Equality

Breaking news: California just over turned Prop 8!

Yes to winning battles, but we haven’t forgotten about winning the war.

(CNN) — A federal judge in California has knocked down the state’s voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage, ruling Wednesday that the state’s controversial Proposition 8 violates the U.S. Constitution.

Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker found in his ruling that the ban violated the Constitution’s equal protection clause under the 14th Amendment.

Running for a Cause

This past Saturday several MYD volunteers joined Achilles International for a run in Central Park.

Blaire and Jee, two of our amazing volunteers, ran with Richard, a civil rights attorney who also happens to be almost completely blind.  He said something that really struck me: if volunteers don’t show up for these runs, he is forced to run on a treadmill.  Because we were there, he was able to do a 5 mile run in Central Park on a gorgeous, sunny day.

These athletes were amazing.  Most of them were doing 5 and 6 mile runs; I could barely do 2!  It was a truly inspiring day and I encourage everyone to get involved.

We will be organizing another MYD event later this month, but Achilles is out there every Saturday.  So just show up at 90th and 5th around 10:15 am, they’d love to have you!

http://www.achillesinternational.org/chapters/national

The Disaster in the Gulf May Only be the Beginning…

We have yet to calculate the full extent of the damage in the gulf, but it’s looking like it may be the worst environmental disaster ever.  Unfortunately, I’m afraid this is only the beginning…

A couple of years ago, I read a book called The Wrecking Crew by Wall Street Journal columnist Thomas Frank (also the author of the great book, What’s the Matter with Kansas).  He gets deep on the how the Bush Administration systematically broke down and sold off large portions of our government’s functions to the private sector.  I can’t totally do it justice – you gotta read the book – but the gist of it is that conservatives don’t really believe that government should do much of anything.  Ever since the Reagan Revolution, they’ve been cutting budgets and replacing life long civil servants with people who don’t believe in the laws they were hired to enforce.

That’s how you end up with regulators on coke binges and sex romps with the oil industry – they’re all buddies and they all used to work together!

I think the conservative logic went sort of like this:  ”We believe in the unfettered free market… but it’s pretty hard to actually shut the government down – first sign of a few kids dying or, I dunno, some huge oil spill, and everyone will get mad at us.  Why don’t we just hire people from the industry they regulate!  As long as they don’t believe in the laws they’re supposed to enforce, we can effectively end regulation!  And here’s the best part:   When something goes wrong, we get to blame government for screwing up!  Genius!”  (cue the clinking of scotch glasses and the lighting of cigars).

Washington (and the Federal Government everywhere) is supposed to have two types of employees – political types that change during every administration, and lifers, who keep the system running.  The lifers are supposed to remain fairly apolitical, because our government can’t handle dramatic turnover every four years.

However, as Frank’s book details, the Bush administration broke this convention, and installed unqualified or destructive conservative true believers everywhere they could.  Now we have land mines spread throughout our vast bureaucracy… and they’ll take a long time to uncover.  I wish Obama had caught the regulatory mistakes that led to this disaster – but I’m not surprised he didn’t.  Read this book, and you’ll understand the magnitude of the problem, and also, how hard it will be to reverse course.  We only discovered this Department of the Interior thing because a rig exploded.  The next disaster could be some horrible workplace accident caused by a health inspection that never actually happened, or some lethal side effect of a drug that skipped key tests five years ago.

It’s going to take a lot longer than a year and a half to undo eight years of damage, and just like the oil spill, it may take even longer to measure the full consequences.

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