Tag Archives: tuesday

Need Good News? We Have Some From Maine and Arizona

by KarinStorkey Posted on November 10, 2016

Mother Jones

If you’re looking for something to savor after Tuesday’s bitter tidings, try this: Voters in Maine and Flagstaff, Arizona opted to eliminate the lower wage for tipped workers.

As Maddie Oatman explained in an excellent piece a few months back:

The federal minimum wage is a paltry $7.25 an hour, but in 18 states servers, bussers, and hosts are paid just $2.13—less than the price of a Big Mac. This is known as the federal “tipped minimum wage” because, in theory, these food workers will make up the difference in tips. Twenty-five states and DC have their own slightly higher tipped minimums. The remaining seven, including California, guarantee the full state minimum wage to all workers.

Oatman shows how the practice of forcing workers to rely on tips in lieu of wages is rooted in post-Civil War racism, and continues today to condemn millions of workers, the great bulk of them women, to sub-living wages. Here’s the tipped-minimum wage map Maddie came up with for her piece. Note that both before Tuesday, Maine and Arizona fell in the category of states that pay tipped workers more than the $2.13 hourly minimum but less than the minimum for regular workers, $7.25.

*Some of the wages shown in the above map are only for large employers.

In Maine, voters passed a resolution pushing the state minimum wage to $12 per hour by 2020, after which it will be indexed to inflation. And wages for tipped workers, now at $3.75 per hour, will be gradually bumped up to equal the overall minimum by 2024. In Flagstaff, a resolution passed raising wages for tipped workers to $15 an hour by 2026.

In a Wednesday statement, Saru Jayaraman and Fekkak Mamdouh, co-directors of Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, called the resolutions proof that “despite all our divisions, when these issues are taken directly to Americans, Americans still vote for gender equality, an end to sexual harassment, and an end to the legacy of slavery that the subminimum wage for tipped workers still represents.” ROCenters United has been agitating for restaurant worker rights since its found in 2001.

Earlier this year, Maddie and I interviewed Jayaraman for Bite podcast. Give it a listen. And for more (mostly) positive election news, check out my roundup on food and farming ballot initiatives.

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Need Good News? We Have Some From Maine and Arizona

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Death Penalty Opponents Lose Two Big Battles

by claudiospeckman Posted on November 9, 2016

Mother Jones

Voters in California and Nebraska on Tuesday rejected efforts to abolish the death penalty in their states. The two states—one deep red and the other deep blue—were seen as significant bellwethers for longtime opponents of capital punishment who had hoped for a different result.

In California, the ballot proposition to repeal the death penalty fell short with about 46 percent of the vote as of Wednesday morning. At the same time, voters narrowly passed a second proposition to speed up the process of executing death row inmates. In Nebraska, voters overwhelmingly chose to keep the death penalty by a margin of 66 percent to 34 percent.

Heading into Tuesday, polls in California showed voters closely divided on the issue; Nebraska’s scant polling showed the pro-death penalty side leading. But overall in the country, support for capital punishment and executions have both waned. In September, a Pew poll found support for the death penalty nationwide had fallen below 50 percent for the first time in nearly 50 years. Some states have been unable to carry out executions due to a shortage of the requisite drugs, including Nebraska, which has not executed anyone since 1997. California has not executed anyone since 2006, also out of concern for its drug protocols.

The results send a signal that voters in both red and blue America are reluctant to part with the death penalty, even as the number of executions around the country has declined in recent years. In Oklahoma, a state that carried out a notoriously botched and brutal execution nearly two years ago because it used the wrong drug, voters passed a ballot initiative to protect the constitutionality of the death penalty, by a margin of 66 percent to 34 percent.

Still, the ballot initiatives in California and Nebraska were a bold effort to push the issue forward, with a deep-blue state questioning the morality of a system that has taken innocent lives and a deep-red state beginning to see the death penalty as a flawed and wasteful government program. “California and Nebraska are such different states that we’re seeing the death penalty being fought on multiple fronts,” said James Clark, an anti-death penalty advocate at Amnesty International, on the eve of the election. “We’re seeing diehard progressives who believe in human rights, who believe this is a violation of human rights, are really on the forefront in states like California. And then also conservatives are on the forefront in both states, saying this is a failed government policy, this is government overreach, it costs so much money.”

The conservative argument played a big role in the death penalty debate in Nebraska. The state’s conservative legislature voted in 2015, over the governor’s veto, to repeal the death penalty. But the issue was forced to a referendum when the governor, Republican Pete Ricketts, spent $300,000 of his own money to try to reinstate it.

Opponents of the death penalty in states across the country, both red and blue, were looking to the outcomes on Tuesday to decide whether to try to repeal the death penalty in their own states. Other countries were watching, too. The United States is the only Western democracy with a death penalty; more than half of the world’s countries have abolished it, and many more countries have stopped using it. “There’s a lot of momentum building around the world to abolish the death penalty, and those countries that continue to use if often point to the United States as the justification for using it,” Clark said.

Even with Tuesday’s defeats, death penalty opponents still believe the momentum is on their side—if for no other reason than the shortage of execution drugs. Clark said the ballot initiatives were “bold risks that could cause setbacks, but I don’t think they will change the overall trend of the death penalty in the United States. I don’t think we’re in jeopardy of that.”

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Death Penalty Opponents Lose Two Big Battles

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Obama Tells Samantha Bee a Halloween Story That Should Truly Terrify You

by PorfiriWexler Posted on November 1, 2016

Mother Jones

President Barack Obama continued his media farewell tour on Monday with an appearance on Full Frontal With Samantha Bee, where he made a pitch to young people to get out the vote next Tuesday.

“This is probably the most important election of our lifetimes,” Obama said. “The choices could not be clearer. If we want to build on progress on issues like climate change and gender equality and making sure everybody has health care and making sure young people have a good education and can afford college, they’ve got to make sure their voices are heard.”

He also shared his prediction for what the female equivalent of birtherism might be if Hillary Clinton is elected president.

“I think the equivalent will be ‘she’s tired,’ ‘she’s moody,’ ‘she’s being emotional,’ ‘there’s something about her,'” Obama said. “When men are ambitious, it’s just taken for granted. ‘Well, of course they should be ambitious.’ When women are ambitious, ‘why?’ That theme will continue throughout her presidency, and it’s contributed to this notion that she’s hiding something.”

Bee concluded the interview by asking the president to share a spooky Halloween story. His response should actually terrify you.

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Obama Tells Samantha Bee a Halloween Story That Should Truly Terrify You

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Newt Gingrich Refuses to Discuss His Attack on Megyn Kelly

by ImogeneLeclair Posted on October 26, 2016

Mother Jones

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On Tuesday night, Newt Gingrich, the Republican who was forced to resign as House speaker in the late ’90s and who now is a top Donald Trump surrogate, got into a row with Fox News host Megyn Kelly. Toward the end of a segment on the presidential election, the often combative Gingrich started grousing about the media paying too much attention to all the women who have accused Trump of sexual assault (after a video emerged of Trump bragging about committing sexual assault). Kelly defended the media’s handling of this story: “We have to cover that story, sir.” What about a Hillary Clinton speech in which she referred to open borders? Gingrich retorted. “That is worth covering,” Kelly said.

Gingrich then angrily exploded: “Do you want to go back to the tapes of your shows recently? You are fascinated with sex and you don’t care about public policy. That’s what I get out of watching you tonight.” Kelly shot back: “I am not fascinated by sex. But I am fascinated by the protection of women.” Gingrich became irate and dared Kelly to say “Bill Clinton” and “sexual predator.” She did not take the bait, and shortly after that, Kelly said goodbye to Gingrich and asked him to “spend some time” working on his “anger issues.”

The exchange blew up Twitter and was the talk of the politerati. On Wednesday morning, as Trump was holding an event in Washington, DC, to promote his new hotel, with Gingrich one of the few notable GOPers in attendance, he congratulated Gingrich for tangling with Kelly (with whom Trump once feuded).

Following the ribbon-cutting ceremony in the hotel lobby, Mother Jones asked Gingrich about his emotional face-off with Kelly. “Do you really think that Megyn Kelly was overly fascinated with sex by asking about the sexual-assault accusations regarding Trump?” we inquired. Waving his hand, Gingrich replied, “I’m not going to talk about that.”

We followed up: “But given that you guys impeached a president” about a matter involving sex—Gingrich interrupted, “It speaks for itself. It speaks for itself.” He and his (third) wife then walked away to eat lunch at the hotel restaurant.

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Newt Gingrich Refuses to Discuss His Attack on Megyn Kelly

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Clinton’s VP Pick Just Gave an Eloquent Defense of a Woman’s Right to Choose

by KelleePulido Posted on October 5, 2016

Mother Jones

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At the end of Tuesday night’s vice-presidential debate—which was full of interruptions and topical tangents—Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) cut through the chaos to deliver an eloquent defense of reproductive rights, after moderator Elaine Quijano asked the candidates to speak about social issues and their religious faith.

Kaine said that when it comes to making decisions around pregnancy, “We trust American women to do that.”

“I think you should live your moral values,” Kaine added, after speaking earlier about his own sense of conflict between his Catholic faith and some of the policy decisions he faced in politics. “But the very last thing the government should do is to punish women who make reproductive choices. And that is the fundamental difference between a Clinton-Kaine ticket and a Trump-Pence ticket.”

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Clinton’s VP Pick Just Gave an Eloquent Defense of a Woman’s Right to Choose

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The One Way Tuesday’s Debate Might Actually Be Interesting

by StevenKRGV Posted on October 4, 2016

Mother Jones

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Did you hear? The vice presidential debate is going to be a total snoozer. “Bland-to-bland combat,” says the Washington Post‘s Karen Tumulty. “The Thrilla in Vanilla,” says the Daily Beast. Neither Mike Pence nor Tim Kaine has ever gone on national TV to call a former Miss Universe fat, nor have they ever suggested at a campaign event that their opponent might get shot. Nor, to the best of my knowledge, have they encouraged their supporters to “check out sex tape” at 3 a.m. They are both middle-aged white men with law degrees who were raised Catholic, had three kids, and served in both Congress and as governors of large (but not unreasonably large) states. You can barely tell them apart:

Pence, notwithstanding his sweater vests and trips to Chili’s, is not just a jar of mayonnaise. As my colleague Hannah Levintova explained, he has a well-earned reputation as one of the most conservative governors in America, one whose one term has been defined by high-profile fights on abortion, gay rights, and a legal battle over refugee resettlement. Pence would be an exceptional figure in a normal year.

But the vice presidential debate isn’t really about the vice presidential candidates. If Pence says anything memorable on Tuesday night, it will most likely be on the subject he has the most trouble talking about: the positions and statements of his running mate, Donald Trump.

It has been an awkward relationship from the start. When he picked the Indiana governor as his running mate, Trump frantically tried to backtrack hours later, then held a press conference the next day announcing the selection that was mostly about himself, and finally did a joint interview on 60 Minutes in which Pence barely spoke. At other joint appearances, Pence has had to politely keep quiet as Trump trashes the trade deals Pence enthusiastically supported and rails against the war in Iraq that both of them backed.

Pence, a social conservative stalwart who launched his political career by condemning negative campaigning, has been put on perpetual cleanup duty in the service of a nominee who accused Hillary Clinton of cheating on her husband. He has had to endorse a Muslim ban he once called “offensive and unconstitutional.” When Trump got into a public feud with the parents of a Muslim soldier who was killed in Iraq, it fell to Pence to run interference. When Pence was asked about Trump’s claim that 95 percent of African Americans would support the Republican ticket, he could only muster a weak laugh.

Throughout the campaign Pence has struggled to defend his running mate with a straight face; on Tuesday, he’ll have to do it for 90 minutes.

An example of how things could go wrong for Pence came during Monday’s US Senate debate in New Hampshire, where Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte—who has said she is voting for Trump—was asked if she considered the presidential nominee a role model for children. There may be no good answer for someone in her position; no one would have taken her seriously if she reflexively said “yes,” but she would never hear the end of it if she said her choice for president was not. Ayotte fumbled awkwardly with the question before eventually saying, “absolutely.” Watch this and try not to wince:

It was 40 seconds of video she’ll have a hard time living down, and she seemed to recognize it. Almost immediately after the debate was over, Ayotte put out a new statement revising her answer: She “misspoke” during the debate, and believed that neither nominee was a good role model for children. Ayotte, at least, could fall back on a critique of both candidates. Pence won’t be so lucky.

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The One Way Tuesday’s Debate Might Actually Be Interesting

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A top climate scientist isn’t impressed with the world’s half-assed effort to save itself.

by LinaSpence01 Posted on October 4, 2016

According to a paper released Tuesday by former NASA director James Hansen, the landmark Paris Agreement is solid C-minus work — but when it comes to climate commitments, mediocrity is basically criminal. Slacker countries making only modest emissions reductions will lock future generations into dangerous levels of climate change.

The average global temperature is already 1 to 1.3 degrees Celsius warmer than preindustrial levels, according to Hansen’s group. That’s on par with the Earth’s climate of 115,000 years ago, when the seas were 20 feet higher than they are today.

Unless we phase out fossil fuels entirely in the next few years, Hansen told reporters on Monday, future generations will have to achieve “negative emissions” by actively removing carbon from the atmosphere. Seeing as we don’t even know if that’s possible, that’d be a helluva task for our progeny.

Hansen and his coauthors’ work, which is undergoing peer review, supports a lawsuit brought by 21 young people against the U.S. government. It charges our lawmakers with not fairly protecting the “life, liberty, and property” of future citizens by allowing fossil fuel interests to keep polluting.

But a solution is possible, Hansen explained, if we commit to a fee on carbon pollution and more investment in renewable energy.

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A top climate scientist isn’t impressed with the world’s half-assed effort to save itself.

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Barcelona is kicking cars off many of its streets.

by Veola28Njffo Posted on October 4, 2016

According to a paper released Tuesday by former NASA director James Hansen, the landmark Paris Agreement is solid C-minus work — but when it comes to climate commitments, mediocrity is basically criminal. Slacker countries making only modest emissions reductions will lock future generations into dangerous levels of climate change.

The average global temperature is already 1 to 1.3 degrees Celsius warmer than preindustrial levels, according to Hansen’s group. That’s on par with the Earth’s climate of 115,000 years ago, when the seas were 20 feet higher than they are today.

Unless we phase out fossil fuels entirely in the next few years, Hansen told reporters on Monday, future generations will have to achieve “negative emissions” by actively removing carbon from the atmosphere. Seeing as we don’t even know if that’s possible, that’d be a helluva task for our progeny.

Hansen and his coauthors’ work, which is undergoing peer review, supports a lawsuit brought by 21 young people against the U.S. government. It charges our lawmakers with not fairly protecting the “life, liberty, and property” of future citizens by allowing fossil fuel interests to keep polluting.

But a solution is possible, Hansen explained, if we commit to a fee on carbon pollution and more investment in renewable energy.

Originally posted here:

Barcelona is kicking cars off many of its streets.

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Police in India kill four people protesting state-run coal mine.

by Florenc9053 Posted on October 3, 2016

According to a paper released Tuesday by James Hansen, formerly of NASA and now at Columbia University*, the landmark Paris Agreement is solid C-minus work — but when it comes to climate commitments, mediocrity is criminal. Slacker countries making only modest emissions reductions will lock future generations into dangerous levels of climate change.

The average global temperature is already 1 to 1.3 degrees Celsius warmer than preindustrial levels, according to Hansen’s group. That’s on par with the Earth’s climate 115,000 years ago, when the seas were 20 feet higher than they are today.

Unless we phase out fossil fuels entirely in the next few years, Hansen told reporters on Monday, future generations will have to achieve “negative emissions” by actively removing carbon from the atmosphere. Seeing as we don’t even know if that’s possible, that’d be a helluva task for our progeny.

Hansen and his coauthors’ work, which is undergoing peer review, supports a lawsuit brought by 21 young people against the U.S. government. It charges our lawmakers with not protecting the “life, liberty, and property” of future citizens by allowing fossil fuel interests to keep polluting.

But a solution is possible, Hansen explained, if we commit to a fee on carbon pollution and more investment in renewable energy.

*Correction: This story originally referred to Hansen as a former NASA director. He was director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

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Police in India kill four people protesting state-run coal mine.

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Hillary Clinton’s Pneumonia Seems to Have Helped Her

by DorisMunday Posted on September 17, 2016

Mother Jones

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Here’s an odd thing:

Around Monday or Tuesday of this week, Hillary Clinton’s favorables went up about four points and Donald Trump’s went down four points. In Clinton’s case, maybe her pneumonia generated some sympathy? In Trump’s case, it’s hard to figure out what might have happened. David Fahrenthold’s big story about Trump’s charity scams came out around then. The whole “deplorables” thing was getting some attention. And…that’s about it. Nothing really comes to mind that might account for a sudden downward spike.

So what’s going on? It could be that this is nothing but reversion to the mean after a couple of weeks of Emailgate and Foundationgate taking a toll. That would actually make some sense, since attitudes toward Clinton and Trump have been remarkably stable for the entire past year. In any case, maybe this will help panicky Dems to panic a little less.

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Hillary Clinton’s Pneumonia Seems to Have Helped Her

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