Politics as Unusual

2002-09-15T09:09:00.000-07:00

Funny... and sad

Humor columnists may be the sages our our time. Check out this latest column by Dave Barry.

You could almost sum it up in this quote but the rest of the article is too funny not to read...

According to an article by Liz Chandler in the Charlotte Observer, North Carolina officials have so far given $41 million of their tobacco settlement to -- I swear I am not making this up -- tobacco growers. Yes! The state gave this money -- which, you may recall, was taken from tobacco companies to punish them for selling tobacco, which is evil -- to these growers so they can buy machinery that will make them more competitive producers of . . . tobacco! This is like using War On Terrorism funds to buy flying lessons for al Qaeda

2002-09-10T09:08:00.000-07:00

Supporting Terrorism

Did you see those ads on TV that equated using drugs to supporting terrorists? While their argument is complete baloney, they do have a point. US citizens are sending money to these countries which flows to terrorist organizations. No, not drug money, oil money. If those ads had been honest, they would have people saying "I made 8 trips in my car today, I supported a terrorist". Drug users are easy to pick on. It's a lot harder to be honest with ourselves. Why are we at war with Iraq? Why are we allys with Saudi Arabia and Egypt? Oil. If you really want to make a statement this September 11th, ride your bike.

2002-07-09T12:03:00.000-07:00

So many things...

It's been a while since my last post even though I've been thinking about all sorts of things. I'm not going to preach to the choir or use this forum as a place to vent. While it's incredibly frustrating to watch the Worldcom debacle (and lose a bit of money at the same time), it's nice to know that the event is SO big that something good will happen out of it. After all, my senators haven't agreed with me on any letters that I've sent to them but I don't think even they can avoid passing some legislation that will make their main contributors mad.

In other news, it was comforting to see the Bush-friendly Austin American Statesman decrying his attempts to gut the Clean Air Act by allowing companies to basically pollute the air as much as they want.

On other notes: if you've ever bought a CD, check out two good articles on the music industry by Janis Ian and Courtney Love. You'll see why your only recourse is really to go see acts in night clubs and buy CDs at their concerts only. While you're at it, sign up at mp3.com and get their "Local Event Updates" newsletter. It emails you a list of bands playing in your area over the next week or two. While that is no big deal, it does have a link next to each band with a song to listen to in order to see what you think of them. Now I'm going to Emos this Friday to see a band that I had never heard of before.

Thanks to Ben Cohen and Jim Hightower, I have sent two letters to my representatives this past month. The first endorses approval on a Treaty for the Rights of Women and the second opposes transport of Nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain. Click on the links to express your opinion in under 5 minutes.

2002-05-26T10:41:00.000-07:00

Water Conservation

So, we already know that industrial company opinions trump consumers in Washington. Don't hold your breath for environment-friendly laws out of this administration. However, don't make the lack of a law an excuse for you not doing your part to save the earth. The City of Austin has a rain barrel program. For $30, you can get a 75 gallon barrel that fits under your downspout to collect rain water. We picked it up 2 weeks ago and installed it in about 15 minutes. The only hard part was taking a hacksaw to our existing downspout. I needed to clean the gutters too but you need to do that whether you've got a barrel or not. Anyway, it finally rained last night and we got our first batch of water. When everything is dry in 5 days, I'll break out the watering can.

2002-05-26T10:31:00.000-07:00

Nuclear Treaty with Russia

As you know, President Bush is in Russia now making agreements to reduce the number of nuclear missiles in each country's arsenal. Oddly enough, it only requires warehousing the weapons rather than dismantling them. This has been mentioned recently in Time magazine and I got an email last week from the TrueMajority folks. So, if you want to have them send a letter to President Bush about it, try this link.

http://www.truemajority.org/action/index.asp?item=1508&ms=recipe&ref=5860

2002-05-20T08:08:00.000-07:00

ABM Treaty

The people over at Truemajority.org sent along a new alert about the ABM treaty. Not only did they compose a good letter (which you can edit), they fax it straight to your senators. Less than 2 minutes to get everything done. So why should you do this? Because the President should not unilaterally withdraw from a treaty. While I don't believe the US should withdraw from the treaty at all, I'm willing to go along with it provided there is some public discourse.

Follow this link to send a fax to your Senators asking them to block this action and to get more information:

http://www.truemajority.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=1467&ms=abm

2002-05-04T12:57:00.000-07:00

VOTE

National politics offends me. It seems like all of the candidates are so reluctant to give any sort of substantiative answer in fear of alienating a few voters that they instead opt for bland platitudes that, coincidentally, are very similar to the other guy. In the end, you end up voting for a party rather than a candidate because the parties seem to have more well defined positions than the candidates themselves. Really, did Bush or Gore sound all that different during the election?

Anyway, imagine my surprise when I discovered an election that was not only full of issues but also had candidates who weren't afraid to give their views. Now, it certainly wasn't our Governor's race. Instead, it was our races for local school board and MUD board. I attended a voter information session last week and heard 8 candidates for 5 offices speak their minds, not those of their consultants. How refreshing. When my wife and I went to vote today, the two candidates for the MUD board were at the polling place and greeted us! Forget these national races, I like the really local ones.

So, please, go vote. If you really want to feel like elections matter again, go hear your local candidates speak and then support the ones that you like.

2002-04-24T21:32:00.000-07:00

Earth Day

So Monday was Earth Day. I heard about it on the radio when I got up that morning. I hadn't ridden my bike to work in over a month but what the heck, Earth Day is a good excuse. It was drizzling a little outside but not badly enough to deter me. I like riding to work even though I find plenty of excuses not to. I get 40 minutes of exercise each way, some fresh air, a chance to lose some weight, and practice dodging cars hell-bent on getting to work 30 seconds faster. On my way, I noticed two things:

The construction on two streets was over (thank god) and they hadn't been painted with lines yet. Since the street was labeled as a green bike route on the Austin Bicycle Map I hope that it will be painted with bike route stripes but being on the map isn't any guarantee.

An intersection (Four Iron & Spicewood Springs) that had formerly been an easy place to cross has turned into a zoo in the last few months and it really needs a light.

I could go off on a rant about how TxDOTs projects make us Texans even more dependent upon automobiles because their projects invariably harm pedestrian and cyclist access. But, I won't because complaining to you won't change things. Only complaining to people who can help might... So I did. First contact was Linda DuPriest the bicycle coordinator for Austin (I'm happy that we have one actually). I asked if she could clarify whether we will get striping for those lanes or not. No response yet but I am hopeful. Second was a check to BicycleAustin.com to find the proper contacts for the traffic department. The numbers on the site were outdated (but they have been fixed now) so I had to post a note to the Austin-bikes mailing list to find the right people to call. Fortunately, I mentioned in my email about my desire for a traffic signal. I got a personal email back from someone in the traffic department stating that they had filled out a citizen's request form for me and that I should expect to receive some sort of answer. Amazing! Responsive government! I expected my request to fall into some sort of black hole of government. Nope. I got a phone call the very next day responding to my request. Apparently, a signal is already in the works for that intersection and I should see it in a few months. So I can't say I actually accomplished change but I definitely am more likely to make requests in the future...

2002-04-16T11:11:00.000-07:00

"Usable Nukes"

I got my first action letter from TrueMajority and I wanted to pass it along. The bellicose Bush administration has yet another use for nuclear weapons. Development of these weapons would, of course, violate all of the treaties that kept us out of World War III. Please take a look at
http://www.truemajority.org/buster/index.asp?ms=rec1&ref=5860 There is a details section where you can read more about it (the cartoon is somewhat amusing too). You can enter your information and edit their sample letter and they will automatically send it to your representative.

2002-04-13T13:49:00.000-07:00

Mountaintop Removal

I read in this morning's paper(*) about companies using mountaintop removal to mine for coal. I personally got to witness the devastation resulting from this practice when visiting some relatives in Colorado Springs. It seems that this practice is basically illegal under current laws that aren't being enforced but, just to make sure, our committed green President Bush is going to force it to be legal. Joys. Apparently Clinton tried the same sleazy thing but was rebuffed by 17,000 petitions. I guess it's time to do it again (though it will probably take 100,000 to break the bonds that tie him to his campaign donors and the rest of the GOP). Surprisingly, I couldn't find any information on it from the main Sierra Club site but I did find information on a national call-in day from the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club. I missed March 20th but it's not too late. Time to write another letter....

(*)This link expires in one week

2002-04-10T21:26:00.000-07:00

True Majority

While at the Rolling Thunder Democracy tour, I gave them my name and email address. I got my first letter a day or so ago. By signing up, they will send me alerts (at most 12 times per year) with summary information on the issue and a link that allows me to easily have them fax a letter to the necessary representative. The criteria they are using for picking their issues is the "Contract with the Planet"

Contract With the Planet:
The TrueMajority monitors legislation based on the following
principles.
1. Attack World Hunger and Poverty as if Our Life Depends on It: It
Does.
2. Champion the Rights of Every Child, Woman and Man.
3. End our Obstructionism to the World's Treaties.
4. Reduce our Dependence on Oil and Lead the World to an Age of
Renewable Energy.
5. Close the Book on the Cold War and End the Nuclear Nightmare
Forever.
6. Renounce Star Wars and the Militarization of Space.
7. Make Globalization Work for, not against, Working People.
8. Ensure Equal Treatment Under Law for All
9. Get Money out of Politics.
10. Close the Gap between Rich and Poor Kids at Home.

If you'd like to sign up, go www.truemajority.org.

2002-04-10T19:08:00.000-07:00

Living Wage Inquiry Response

Well, I guess not all organizations are keeping it together.. Just got this from the Austin Living Wage Coalition:

All heck seems to have broken loose all over.
THe coalition is in flux -
I am keeping the email addresses of all interested
parties and going to try to keep it going somehow.
I am getting over a surgery and need at least 2 more
weeks to get to figuring when and what should be done.
THanks for your interest.
You may be able to find out some news on the national
site at:
UniversalLivingWage.org
Again, THank you,
BLessings,

So, I went to the website she mentioned. Under "You Can Help", it has an area about Letter Writing and it has a sample letter (IMHO, their letter is uses terrible english and isn't very persuasive so I wrote my own below). It didn't have a direct link to congress but it did have a link to the website where you can find your representative. I mailed one to my Congressman and one to the Austin mayor and a councilmember.

Here's my letter:

---------
Dear Congressman XXXX:

In 1968, the federal minimum wage provided 86% of the income needed to lift a worker and his or her family above the poverty line. Today, it only provides 64%. Minimum wage workers all over this country can't afford housing with the minimum wage of $5.15 per hour or even $6.65 an hour. I am requesting that you consider the proposals put forth from the Universal Living Wage Campaign. The success of this initiative was recently documented in Time magazine:

Driving the movement is new evidence that may dispel early fears that the social benefit from higher wages would be wiped out by job cutbacks among businesses subject to the living-wage laws. Last month a study of 36 cities with living-wage laws--conducted by David Neumark, a Michigan State University economics professor and an early skeptic of such laws--found that the slight job losses caused by the higher wages are more than offset by the decrease in poverty among working families. "The impact on businesses and governments is very small," says Robert Pollin, an economics professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. "If there were any evidence otherwise, it would have shut down the living-wage movement a long time ago."

Please author or support legislation increasing the minimum wage for full-time workers.

Sincerely,

2002-04-03T21:25:00.000-08:00

A Living Wage

One of the sessions at the Rolling Thunder Democracy Tour was about a "Living Wage". The idea is fairly simple: Anybody who is working 40 hours per week should get paid enough to be above the poverty line. Is that such a socialist idea? I got a little pamphlet on it but didn't stay for the session. However, this week's Time Magazine had an article (*) on that very subject. The part of the article that I found most interesting was:

Driving the movement is new evidence that may dispel early fears that the social benefit from higher wages would be wiped out by job cutbacks among businesses subject to the living-wage laws. Last month a study of 36 cities with living-wage laws--conducted by David Neumark, a Michigan State University economics professor and an early skeptic of such laws--found that the slight job losses caused by the higher wages are more than offset by the decrease in poverty among working families. "The impact on businesses and governments is very small," says Robert Pollin, an economics professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. "If there were any evidence otherwise, it would have shut down the living-wage movement a long time ago."

(*) That link may only be valid for a short time. They make you pay for viewing articles in back issues.

So anyway, this week's plan is to contact the Austin Living Wage Coalition and see which local politicians they are targeting to try and get living wage legislation enacted. If you don't live in Austin, Texas, you can get more information on the Living Wage at the Living Wage Resource Center. However, I didn't find the Austin chapter that way. Instead, I went to Google and searched for "living wage Austin Texas".

2002-04-01T18:18:00.000-08:00

I received an email this weekend from a man I have only met once. He came to a function that I put on for the Cornell Club of Austin. His letter, however, made my event sound utterly meaningless in the whole scheme of things. Joy (pronounced "Joey") is from Bangladesh and his father was just arrested upon return to Bangladesh earlier this month. He has been tortured and held as a political prisoner without charges. He has been denied his diabetes medicine and could easily die in custody. Amnesty International issued a call for help on March 27th and his story made the Austin newspaper this weekend. Here's what you can do to help him:

visit http://www.bangladeshpolitics.com. The web site will give you all of the things you can do. You can sign an on-line petition, sign the Amnesty International petition (it's unclear if they are the same), and print out 4 letters to send or fax to members of congress. In all, 15 minutes work to possibly save this man's life.

2002-03-26T21:30:00.000-08:00

Here's the first site I've found that encourages citizen feedback to Congress. The Sierra Club has a Take Action area. My pick was to express disappointment for the Senate discouraging conservation as a means to deal with energy shortages. The President and V.P. seem much more interested in seeing the oil companies flourish than keeping Californians' power on.

The Sierra Club site identified my two senators and helped me construct an email (or printed letter) addressed to them. They added a paragraph at the top and I added:

The Austin Energy Green Choice program in Austin, Texas is proof that it is economically viable to power residential customers with renewable energy. This program is not restricted to environmentally-conscious individuals. AMD, a large local employer, is purchasing power from this program. It's time for Congress to stop pandering to the interests of the oil companies and realize that our dependence on foreign oil is an Achilles heel of America.

Give it a try yourself and let congress know what you think.

2002-03-26T20:27:00.000-08:00

This past weekend, Elisa and I went to see the Rolling Thunder Democracy Tour. Neither Elisa nor I are staunch supporters of either major political party but we certainly could call ourselves "Liberals". I've gotten too fed up with the corruption endemic in both major parties to give either of them my allegence.

"Democrats are also the party of government activism, the party that says government can make you richer, smarter, taller and get the chickweed out of your lawn. Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work, and then they get elected and prove it."
- P.J. O'Rourke, Parliament of Whores

"What's the difference between Democrats and Republicans? Democrats say one thing ("Save the planet!") and then do another -- quietly holding hands with the bastards who make this world a meaner place." - Michael Moore, Stupid White Men

This event was more about "Democracy" than "Democrats". The most inspiring moment of the event was a talk by Michael Moore (of Roger & Me fame) talking about his new book Stupid White Men. The he made me realize that I really don't participate in government enough. I've gotten cynical and turned it into inaction rather than working for things in which I believe.
A year or so ago, I tried participating in the Bicycle-Pedestrian Subcommittee of the Urban Transportation Commission for Austin. Getting out to the meetings was a challenge though. Devoting an hour a month to a cause isn't a big deal. But dedicating a specific hour each month was problematic.

I'm inspired so it's time to try again. This time, I'll use an hour of my choosing instead. I'm going to write letters. I know that my one letter isn't going to change much. But, if I can add my voice to conversations already going on, maybe I can do my part for democracy. Unfortuately, there are lots of groups that help you get outraged about world events but there are very few that actually tell you how to individually make a difference. So, my goal is once a week to read about a problem, get outraged, figure out who I can write to about it, and share what I did. Government of the people, for the people, and by the people means that we have a responsibility to make our voices heard rather than paying a lobbyist to do it for us.