Inspire Political Discourse

This Week in Bizarro World With Sarah Palin May 10 - May 15

Monday, 10 MAY 2010

Palin started her week by boldly lying about supposed pay decreases for our armed forces.The implication was that Obama was decreasing the pay of armed forces personnel, when in reality, he had requested a pay raise for them to take effect in 2011. Via BroadwayCarl:

Sarah's Facebook ghostwriter wrote:
“ Soldier pay decreases in the midst of overspending elsewhere and government union pay raises. Seriously? What are our priorities? ”
going on to cite a Newsmax article. Newsmax!

On the Facebook post itself, Palin's fawning, and unpaid, lackeys deleted all comments which called her out or cited the truth. I know this because not only did it happen to Broadway Carl, it happened to me when I posted a comment citing the truth of the matter. She scrubbed my comment, and banned me from her page.

Anonymity, Political Commentary, and Why Alaska Democrat Mike Doogan is an Asshat

This country has a long, and revered history of anonymous political commentary, beginning with Thomas Paine, the author of the widely read pamphlet, Common Sense (1776), which advocated for America’s independence from Great Britain, and The American Crisis (1776–1783), a pro-revolutionary pamphlet series.

Our founding fathers also utilized the ability to anonymously make political commentary in the creation of our country. The greatest example of this is The Federalist Papers.

The Federalist Papers are comprised of 85 articles advocating the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, and were originally published between October 1787 and August 1788. They were written by  Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, using the pseudonym "Publius," in order to preserve anonymity and to ensure that the ideas were considered on their own merit, separate from the authors of the ideas. These papers are still today a primary source for interpretation of the Constitution, being that they outline both the philosophy and the motivation for the system of government being proposed.

IPD Legislation Tracking: H.R. 11/S. 181: Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009

To amend title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, and to modify the operation of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, to clarify that a discriminatory compensation decision or other practice that is unlawful under such Acts occurs each time compensation is paid pursuant to the discriminatory compensation decision or other practice, to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide more effective remedies to victims of discrimination in the payment of wages on the basis of sex, and for other purposes.

Why this bill is important: A civil rights issue, the bill would overturn a 2007 Supreme Court ruling which threw a wrench in to a lawsuit filed by Lilly M. Ledbetter, a supervisor at a Goodyear tire plant in Alabama. This bill will allow plaintiffs more time to file discrimination/bias lawsuits, and thus give employers fewer escape routes to avoid job bias.
President Bush threatened to veto this bill, however, he will not have the opportunity, and the soon to be  President Obama, is eager to sign it.

• Sponsor: Rep. George Miller [D-CA] cosponsors (195)
  
• How they voted.
  Or who exactly was on the side of labor.

House - Roll No. 9 - View Votes		YEAS	NAYS	Didn't Vote
Democrats		244	3	7
Republicans		3	168	8

Senate voted

Senate - Roll No. 14		YEAS	NAYS	Didn't Vote
Democrats		54	0	1
Republicans		5	36	0
Independents		2	-

• Text:

 Summary | Full Text

• Status: (Updates will be posted here)

	Introduced	01/06/09
	Passed House 247-171	01/09/09
	S. 181 - Passed Senate 61-36	01/22/09
	Signed in to law by the President	01/29/09

Want More Control as a Voter? Read This.

:: Introducing IPD Legislation Tracking

Inspire Political Discourse is going to take on the task of tracking some of the bills that I consider important.

In doing this, I hope to make it easy for you to make your voices heard, because you will be able to easily stay on top of legislation, and thus contact your rep and/or senator to express your views in a timely manner. Please do let me know what you think about this, and feel free to volunteer to contribute some time to this project.

You may find this post, and future posts tracking legislation under the category Legislation-Tracking, with a link in the nav bar at the top of the page. Feel free to suggest bills that you feel that I should be tracking, as well. And, if you need help in finding out how your elected officials voted, or in contacting them, please do leave a comment, and I'll be happy to help. At some point in the future, IPD will likely publish a tutorial of sorts.

In the Process: 2 Resolutions Dealing With Equal Pay/Job Discrimination

On Friday, the House passed two bills.One of the bills would give workers more time to file discrimination lawsuits, overturning a 2007 Supreme Court decision which strictly enforced a 180-day deadline. The bill passed 247-171, and only 3 of the "yes" votes were cast by Republicans. [House Resolution No.: H.R.11]

The second bill will make it easier for women to prove employer violations of the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which requires equal pay for equal work. This one passed with the support of 10 whole Republicans, 256 to 163. [House Resolution No.: H.R.12]

Regarding both of these bills, it would be a good idea to follow up by finding out how your representative voted, and then contacting him/her if they voted against either of these measures.  Be sure to be polite, but do ask them why they voted against these bills, and express your displeasure. We can no longer afford to let the GOP machine rule this country, and this is one way of reasserting some voter control.

Additionally, neither of these bills has yet gone to the senate. Call, email, or write your senators to express your views. Be active, make your voice heard!

Other legislation IPD is currently watching