While other states, mostly those that aren't busy trying to dictate women's reproductive health and make sure there are guns in every home, business and classroom, have increased the minimum wage, our legislators are still mostly not sure if that's necessary. In 2015, there are 29 states which have increased the minimum to wage to levels above the federal minimum wage.
Now, the fact that we have to do that anyway really reflects just how out-of-touch our Congress is with the needs of its citizens. Not only do our elitist senators and representatives assume that their extraordinary wages and benefits (and extra goodies) are well deserved, they just can't see a need for their constituents to be making a living wage. Of course this represents the philosophy that what goes into the pockets of American workers is going to come out of the pockets of the millionaires and billionaires who are the people they really truly work for. Out-of-touch meaning really far away from the rest of us, and pretty much holding hands with guys like the Kochs.
But it is what it is, and it's good that states have recognized that waiting for Congress to do the right thing is decidedly the wrong thing.
And here in South Carolina, there is a bill in the Senate, S 146, which proposes to put the question of raising our state minimum wage on the 2016 ballot. We don't want to rush into anything here, because those who are struggling to try to live on the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour sure wouldn't have a problem waiting. And of course raising the minimum wage to $1 an hour over the federal rate would hardly be called providing people with a livelihood.
We've heard all the lame arguments about why idiots like Jim DeMint (remember him???) are opposed to increasing the minimum wage: it's only kids who live at home that make the minimum wage, it would be so costly to employers that they would have to cut jobs, it's anti-American for the government to set a minimum wage. DeMint may be hiding out at the Heritage Foundation instead of wasting space in Congress, but folks like Tim Scott are happy to fill his expensive shoes. So we aren't going to see a reasonable federal minimum wage anywhere in the near future.
And the fact is, it takes so long to move our federal lawmakers to increase the minimum wage that by the time it goes into effect it is still too low to make a dent.
But we got what we got, and what we got here in South Carolina is S 146. And on Wednesday, May 13, at 10 a.m., the bill will go before a Senate Labor, Commerce and Industry Subcommittee. Here are the members of the subcommittee, and their phone numbers:
Kevin Bryant, Chairman (R) -- 803-212-6320; 864-202-8394
Glenn Reese (D) -- 803-212-6108; 864-592-2984
Shane Massey (R) -- 803-212-6024; 803-480-0419
Kent Williams (D) -- 803-212-6000; 843-362-0307
Lee Bright (R) -- 803-212-6008; 864-576-6742
Or you can send an email by going to scstatehouse.gov, click on "Senate" and then click on "email" and then click on the senator's name. Unfortunately, you can't do it as a group but you can copy and paste your message in each email. Put S 146 in the Subject line, and be sure to begin the message by 1) saying if you are a constituent (you don't have to be a constituent to write, but if you are you should let the guy know) and 2) saying "Please support S-146, to allow South Carolina voters to decide on whether there should be an increase in the minimum wage."
Then you can add a sentence or two stating that people can't live on $7.25 an hour, a raise in the minimum wage would take people off the food stamp rolls, an increased minimum wage would put more money into the economy and be good for business in South Caroline, etc. Don't worry about your literary skills, some of these guys are minimally literate anyway. They just need to see how many of us are behind this ballot measure.
This is what I just sent to each member of the committee (yeah, even Lee Bright):
I am writing to urge you to support S 146 which would allow voters to decide whether the minimum wage in South Carolina should be raised.
Raising the minimum wage would be a boon to the economy, as the increased wages would be spent in businesses throughout the state. It would make employees less dependent on government assistance to survive.
Please vote Yes on this bill.
And here's another thing you can do: you can go to the Statehouse on Wednesday to lobby for a raise in the minimum wage. Nothing makes a legislator want to say yes than having to look a constituent in the eyes. If you are able to make it up to Columbia, would like to sign up for a ride, or would like more information, contact Loreen Myerson at:
LoreenJMyerson@gmail.com or 415-637-9119.
Our legislators can do this, but they need to know we are watching.
Showing posts with label SC Senate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SC Senate. Show all posts
Monday, May 11, 2015
Friday, April 17, 2015
Men Debating Abortion Moves Forward
In an excellent summary of the insane debate going on in the South Carolina Senate over H 3114, the bill that would ban abortion at twenty weeks, we have the cretins explaining science and morality. Lee Bright continues to tear his little heart out over the thought that 20-week fetuses are feeling pain. No doubt he spends many nights lying awake thinking about those same fetuses being denied the right to experience sexual pleasure in the womb. Danny Verdin, another example of imaginations gone wild, can't get past the pain a fetus must be going through during an abortion.
Jeez guys, you must have been a riot in your high school biology classes. Should we really have men who are so prone to hysteria that they readily distort facts be making legislative decisions about... well, anything?
And while they relate to a fetus as though it is a cute little kitty, they have absolutely no concept of pain in reality. The pain of a woman whose pregnancy has gone horribly wrong. The pain of carrying a fetus who has severe abnormalities to term, and then giving birth to an infant who also will THEN live in pain until death. The pain of a woman being unable to care for herself or other family members because she is being forced to carry a life that it has been determined will require the draining of resources, emotional and financial. The tragedy of forcing life when maybe God has created a system wherein some pregnancies fail so that others can flower.
False science and hysteria rule the day in Columbia.
But we have some fearless souls on the other side who are attempting to bring reason and proper analysis to this fascist enterprise.
Senator Joel Lourie sums it up:
“We’re a bunch of men sitting up here trying to tell a woman whether it’s right or not to terminate a pregnancy at 20 versus 24 weeks. We ought to be ashamed of ourselves that we’re going to impose our own value system and interfere with the relationship between a woman, her physician, her spiritual adviser and her family.”
We're not even talking about the fact that that infinitesimal percentage of doctors who have testified as "experts" in favor of this bill have had center stage against professional organizations like the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. We've had testimony by people who have said they "just know" a fetus at twenty week feels pain. Proud to be a member of such an august legislative body that would consider that "evidence."
But then there's God. The legislators themselves have toned down the religious rhetoric, substituting it with false science claims so that they can pretend they are keeping church and state separate. But there has been more than enough religious fervor that has crept in via "witnesses."
So that the argument is not really whether a woman should be allowed to decide for herself about terminating a pregnancy. It is really about the fact that because some women of faith chose to have the baby, all women should be prevented from having a choice. It is because small-minded hypocrites like Lee Bright want to be heralded by the church as the man that saved "unborn babies" from being "killed" while defending abusers rights to carry guns. It is about misogynists like Danny Verdin telling us that allowing exceptions to a 20-week abortion law for rape and incest would be encouraging women to lie.
Basically, it is the ugliest of motives, control of women, combined with voyeurism and government surveillance, that gives continued voice to these abortion bills.
This twenty week abortion ban, that in a world ruled by reason and true concern would have been laughed out of any governing body, will come for a Senate vote soon. The criminal domestic violence bill, which would truly save lives, is being held hostage while those same "pro-life" legislators fight about whether abusers should have their guns taken away.
But we can still be heard. We can thank and encourage those Senators who are fighting for women's right to reproductive health and privacy, and we can write and call our own State Senators to tell them in no uncertain terms to vote no to this bill.
Thanks to Brad Hutto and Joel Lourie and others who are fighting to keep the government out of women's private lives.
Go to the Statehouse website to send an email to let each senator know how you feel about this bill.
This is the email I sent to all senators:
I urge you to vote NO on the bill that would prevent women from deciding on whether to have an abortion after twenty weeks. Science has proven that at 20-24 weeks a fetus has not developed the ability to experience pain.
Also, this is an extremely rare procedure (estimated 30 per year) which occurs in the course of wanted pregnancies where fetal abnormalities are detected.
This should be a decision between a woman and a medical professional. Government intrusion in such a private and personal matter is unacceptable.
Vote NO on H 3114.
I hope you will all join me in making your voice heard.
Jeez guys, you must have been a riot in your high school biology classes. Should we really have men who are so prone to hysteria that they readily distort facts be making legislative decisions about... well, anything?
And while they relate to a fetus as though it is a cute little kitty, they have absolutely no concept of pain in reality. The pain of a woman whose pregnancy has gone horribly wrong. The pain of carrying a fetus who has severe abnormalities to term, and then giving birth to an infant who also will THEN live in pain until death. The pain of a woman being unable to care for herself or other family members because she is being forced to carry a life that it has been determined will require the draining of resources, emotional and financial. The tragedy of forcing life when maybe God has created a system wherein some pregnancies fail so that others can flower.
False science and hysteria rule the day in Columbia.
But we have some fearless souls on the other side who are attempting to bring reason and proper analysis to this fascist enterprise.
Senator Joel Lourie sums it up:
“We’re a bunch of men sitting up here trying to tell a woman whether it’s right or not to terminate a pregnancy at 20 versus 24 weeks. We ought to be ashamed of ourselves that we’re going to impose our own value system and interfere with the relationship between a woman, her physician, her spiritual adviser and her family.”
We're not even talking about the fact that that infinitesimal percentage of doctors who have testified as "experts" in favor of this bill have had center stage against professional organizations like the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. We've had testimony by people who have said they "just know" a fetus at twenty week feels pain. Proud to be a member of such an august legislative body that would consider that "evidence."
But then there's God. The legislators themselves have toned down the religious rhetoric, substituting it with false science claims so that they can pretend they are keeping church and state separate. But there has been more than enough religious fervor that has crept in via "witnesses."
So that the argument is not really whether a woman should be allowed to decide for herself about terminating a pregnancy. It is really about the fact that because some women of faith chose to have the baby, all women should be prevented from having a choice. It is because small-minded hypocrites like Lee Bright want to be heralded by the church as the man that saved "unborn babies" from being "killed" while defending abusers rights to carry guns. It is about misogynists like Danny Verdin telling us that allowing exceptions to a 20-week abortion law for rape and incest would be encouraging women to lie.
Basically, it is the ugliest of motives, control of women, combined with voyeurism and government surveillance, that gives continued voice to these abortion bills.
This twenty week abortion ban, that in a world ruled by reason and true concern would have been laughed out of any governing body, will come for a Senate vote soon. The criminal domestic violence bill, which would truly save lives, is being held hostage while those same "pro-life" legislators fight about whether abusers should have their guns taken away.
But we can still be heard. We can thank and encourage those Senators who are fighting for women's right to reproductive health and privacy, and we can write and call our own State Senators to tell them in no uncertain terms to vote no to this bill.
Thanks to Brad Hutto and Joel Lourie and others who are fighting to keep the government out of women's private lives.
Go to the Statehouse website to send an email to let each senator know how you feel about this bill.
This is the email I sent to all senators:
I urge you to vote NO on the bill that would prevent women from deciding on whether to have an abortion after twenty weeks. Science has proven that at 20-24 weeks a fetus has not developed the ability to experience pain.
Also, this is an extremely rare procedure (estimated 30 per year) which occurs in the course of wanted pregnancies where fetal abnormalities are detected.
This should be a decision between a woman and a medical professional. Government intrusion in such a private and personal matter is unacceptable.
Vote NO on H 3114.
I hope you will all join me in making your voice heard.
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Big Anti-Abortion Rally in the SC Senate
On Wednesday, April 1, the South Carolina Senate is going to hear not one, not two, but four anti-abortion bills. This will be the Medical Affairs Subcommittee, at 9 a.m. in 207 Gressette. The bills are: H 3114, S 25, S 28, and S 130. These are all basically the same bill, the 20-week ban that pretends to be science by claiming that fetuses at 20 weeks can feel pain.
Is this a last ditch effort to pass one of these god-awful bills before recess? It has the feel of a back-room plot, with old white men smoking big smelly cigars, doesn't it? Just determined, before the break for the big religious holiday, to do something to get a wink and a back-slap from their Guy in Heaven.
I would like to understand why there are four of the same bills floating around, some with the same sponsors. It makes no sense, which is at least consistent with the content of the bills. Maybe it's a case of dueling egos, but if there is a rationale for flooding the Senate with copies of the same bill, I sure would like to be on top of it.
Let's just hope that a couple of the sane members of this subcommittee are planning some evasive action.
Here's one thing, though. We can't expect our guys to fight this ugly fight without our support. And we need those nasty women-haters to know we aren't going to sit by while they plan to keep us barefoot and pregnant.
So we need to call and email. Every one of them. Once, twice, as often as possible.
You know those anti-abortion wackos that block the Charleston Women's Medical Center? The ones who show up at ACLU meetings, Planned Parenthood events, and pretty much any other place where people might gather to talk about preserving individual freedom? They are tireless. There aren't all that many of them, but the way they show up, Zelig-like, they seem to be everywhere.
That is the presence -- and the passion -- that we need to project. Politicians may be bought, and they may have their own pet projects that disregard the needs of their constituents, but if you make enough noise, they will worry about their futures. And those guys in the Senate who do support women's reproductive freedom and privacy need to know there are gazillions of us behind them, cheering them on.
So here's the thing.
Women of reproductive age, and the men who are also affected by these attempts to control their lives, need to shout the loudest, because they have the most to lose. Be sure to tell these young women and men exactly what is going on this Wednesday. The 20-week abortion ban seeks to prevent women from making critical medical decisions about their welfare and that of their families. After the anti-abortion gang was able to get 24-week abortions banned with their "partial birth" false science, the 20-week abortion ban was next on their checklist. And be assured that if this becomes law, they will be energized and will pursue ever more restrictive measures. The goal is not just total ban on abortion, but a ban on contraception as well.
If you can be there on Wednesday, do it. Your presence at the statehouse will be noticed.
Whether you are there or not, call and / or email the members of the Medical Affairs Committee. You can do that from scstatehouse.gov by going to the Senate link, and then to the email link. You can send individual emails, or an email to all Senate members. I don't think it's possible to overdo your voice or your message.
You can also go to this ACLU link:
https://ssl.capwiz.com/aclu/issues/alert/?alertid=64213171&type=CU&ms=fb_150316_aff_SC_reproductive_rights
Feel free to add your own words to the prepared text. And don't worry about how well you write; it is the message that matters.
If there is enough noise, it is possible that some committee members will be less eager to push these bills through.
Finally, spread this message through Facebook, Twitter, and your email lists. The sad truth is that when these terrible bills do pass, it is a surprise to far too many of us. Let's not let that happen.
And let's not let Lee Bright and Wendy Nanney dictate what happens in our doctors' offices.
Is this a last ditch effort to pass one of these god-awful bills before recess? It has the feel of a back-room plot, with old white men smoking big smelly cigars, doesn't it? Just determined, before the break for the big religious holiday, to do something to get a wink and a back-slap from their Guy in Heaven.
I would like to understand why there are four of the same bills floating around, some with the same sponsors. It makes no sense, which is at least consistent with the content of the bills. Maybe it's a case of dueling egos, but if there is a rationale for flooding the Senate with copies of the same bill, I sure would like to be on top of it.
Let's just hope that a couple of the sane members of this subcommittee are planning some evasive action.
Here's one thing, though. We can't expect our guys to fight this ugly fight without our support. And we need those nasty women-haters to know we aren't going to sit by while they plan to keep us barefoot and pregnant.
So we need to call and email. Every one of them. Once, twice, as often as possible.
You know those anti-abortion wackos that block the Charleston Women's Medical Center? The ones who show up at ACLU meetings, Planned Parenthood events, and pretty much any other place where people might gather to talk about preserving individual freedom? They are tireless. There aren't all that many of them, but the way they show up, Zelig-like, they seem to be everywhere.
That is the presence -- and the passion -- that we need to project. Politicians may be bought, and they may have their own pet projects that disregard the needs of their constituents, but if you make enough noise, they will worry about their futures. And those guys in the Senate who do support women's reproductive freedom and privacy need to know there are gazillions of us behind them, cheering them on.
So here's the thing.
Women of reproductive age, and the men who are also affected by these attempts to control their lives, need to shout the loudest, because they have the most to lose. Be sure to tell these young women and men exactly what is going on this Wednesday. The 20-week abortion ban seeks to prevent women from making critical medical decisions about their welfare and that of their families. After the anti-abortion gang was able to get 24-week abortions banned with their "partial birth" false science, the 20-week abortion ban was next on their checklist. And be assured that if this becomes law, they will be energized and will pursue ever more restrictive measures. The goal is not just total ban on abortion, but a ban on contraception as well.
If you can be there on Wednesday, do it. Your presence at the statehouse will be noticed.
Whether you are there or not, call and / or email the members of the Medical Affairs Committee. You can do that from scstatehouse.gov by going to the Senate link, and then to the email link. You can send individual emails, or an email to all Senate members. I don't think it's possible to overdo your voice or your message.
You can also go to this ACLU link:
https://ssl.capwiz.com/aclu/issues/alert/?alertid=64213171&type=CU&ms=fb_150316_aff_SC_reproductive_rights
Feel free to add your own words to the prepared text. And don't worry about how well you write; it is the message that matters.
If there is enough noise, it is possible that some committee members will be less eager to push these bills through.
Finally, spread this message through Facebook, Twitter, and your email lists. The sad truth is that when these terrible bills do pass, it is a surprise to far too many of us. Let's not let that happen.
And let's not let Lee Bright and Wendy Nanney dictate what happens in our doctors' offices.
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