ProgressOhio

Of over 170 countries, the U.S. is one of only 4 that doesn't have any form of paid leave for new mothers (We join Papua New Guinea, Swaziland, and Liberia with that dubious distinction).

1 in 8 children do not have access to healthcare

Women without children make 90 cents to a man's dollar, mothers make 73 cents, and single mothers make the least at about 60 cents to a man's dollar.

Click here to take action

Progress Ohio and the Ohio Healthy Families Coalition are teaming up with MomsRising.org to work toward family-friendly policies.

Where do the major presidential candidates stand on issues like maternity and paternity leave, health care, paid sick days, child care, and equal pay?

Click here to send a MomsRising Mothers Day e-card, and to tell presidential candidates that America's moms need their leadership creating a more family-friendly nation.

From the E-card video:

M is for Maternity leave (the U.S. joins Swaziland and Papua New Guinea on the list of nations without paid leave for new mothers)

O is for Open, flexible work (families need flexible options to fully participate in both the workforce and in family life)

T is for TV (did you know 40,000 kindergarteners are home alone after school?)

H is for Health Care (1 in 8 children don't have access to healthcare. Our child mortality rate is 37th worldwide, even though we pay more per person for healthcare than any other country in the world!)

E is for Excellent child care (only 14% of childcare centers in the U.S. are rated as "excellent.")

R is for Realistic wages (Parents who work 40 hours a week should be able to support their families on those wages)

Click here to send a MomsRising Mothers Day e-card, and to tell presidential candidates that America's moms need their leadership creating a more family-friendly nation.

Happy Mother's Day!

Mom's Rising. ProgressOhio and The  Ohio Healthy Families Coaltion

The Gilligan Institute Presents: What's Ahead - The 2008 Election

Join us May 15th for the kickoff of an exciting new program on Ohio politics and a unique expert look at the 2008 election. Speakers include nationally-syndicated political columnist Mark Shields, pollster Peter D. Hart, and

SPECIAL GUEST: The Honorable Kathleen Sebelius, Governor of the State of Kansas and daughter of former Ohio Governor John J. Gilligan

Click here to find out more, and to reserve tickets

WHEN: Thursday, May 15, 2008, 8:00 AM
WHERE: The Athletic Club, 136 E. Broad St., Columbus, OH 43215
TICKETS: Individual: $100 Table for ten: $1000. Become a sponsor for $2500 and receive a reserved table for ten as well as recognition in the seminar program.

Click here to find out more, and to reserve tickets

HOST COMMITTEE: William Chavanne, Robert Daley, Jim Friedman, John P. Gilligan, Patricia Groseck, Phil Moots, Bob Tenenbaum, Fred Vierow

The Gilligan Institute has applied to be a 501c3 nonprofit corporation established to promote political research and discussion in Ohio. Donations will be tax deductible.
Proceeds from the event will underwrite the cost of a biography of Former Ohio Governor John J. Gilligan.

...until you consider the origins of Mother's Day.

Julia Ward Howe, who penned The Battle Hymn of the Republic, also authored a mothers' Declaration calling on women to oppose war, and worked to get recognition of a Mother’s Day for Peace. Says Code Pink: "Were she alive today, Julia probably would have told her kids to dispense with the roses and chocolates, and instead join her in an anti-war rally. Yes, Julia Ward Howe was a peacenik."

[Howe] saw some of the worst effects of the [civil] war -- not only the death and disease which killed and maimed the soldiers. She worked with the widows and orphans of soldiers on both sides of the war, and realized that the effects of the war go beyond the killing of soldiers in battle. She also saw the economic devastation of the Civil War, the economic crises that followed the war, the restructuring of the economies of both North and South.

In 1870, Julia Ward Howe took on a new issue and a new cause….She called in 1870 for women to rise up and oppose war in all its forms. She wanted women to come together across national lines, to recognize what we hold in common above what divides us, and commit to finding peaceful resolutions to conflicts. She issued a Declaration, hoping to gather together women in a congress of action.

Howe failed in her attempt to get formal recognition of a Mother's Day for Peace, but her effort was carried on by Anna Jarvis, who had organized women during the Civil War to work for better sanitary conditions for both sides, and then toward reconciliation of Union and Confederate neighbors.

Jarvis’ daughter, of the same name, then took up the campaign for Mother’s Day. After the custom spread to 45 states, President Woodrow Wilson declared the first national Mother’s Day in 1914.

Julia Ward Howe's Mothers' Declaration:

Arise then...women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts!
Whether your baptism be of water or of tears!
Say firmly:
"We will not have questions answered by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage,
For caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country,
Will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."

From the voice of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with
Our own. It says: "Disarm! Disarm!
The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."
Blood does not wipe our dishonor,
Nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil
At the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home
For a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace...
Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,
But of God -
In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality,
May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient
And the earliest period consistent with its objects,
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions,
The great and general interests of peace.

Maybe Pryce, Schmidt, Tiberi, Chabot, Boehner, Regula, LaTourette, Hobson, and Turner have a thing against moms. But YOU can make this Mother's Day a Mother's Day For Peace.

Help CodePink help Iraqi refugee moms here.

Send a MomsRising Mother's Day card and tell the presidential candidates to fight for family-friendly policies. here.

Oh and don't forget to call the Congressional Switchboard at 1-800-839-5276 to give the above members of Congress a piece of your mind about H.R. 1113.

Do you have another suggestion for honoring Julia Ward Howe's Mothers' Declaration? Are you a mom working for peace? Leave a comment below.

Remember the Pepsi-Coke Challenge?

Here's a new twist: Try the Bush-McCain Challenge—our new online quiz—and see if you can tell the difference between Bush and McCain!

Take the Challenge »

Mercy For Animals' latest video investigation is really heating up after being featured in the LA Times and all over Columbus TV. 

Things are getting even hotter for those directly responsible for this shocking cruelty; at today's press conference Mercy For Animals will unveil a formal complaint filed with the DA's office seeking prosecution. 

What can you do to turn up the heat? We are delivering a petition to Governor Strickland calling for a stop to new factory farms in Ohio. In the first 24 hours we have hundreds of people sign up, it only takes a second so do it! 

The other way you can help is to reduce your consumption of meat and animal products. Momentarily putting aside the substantial health and cruelty issues, beef requires up to 16 times more fossil fuels than eating the equivalent amount of rice and vegetables. Check out ChooseVeg.com for some ideas on how you can save the environment, prevent cruelty to animals and live a healthier life, just by reducing your reliance on animals.

The Orchestra, the Arts, Our Community -Submitted to The Other Paper by David Robinson on 5/5/08

The well-publicized and documented troubles facing the Columbus Symphony Orchestra (CSO) are part of an even bigger picture that I find troubling. The CSO is a key contributor to our quality of life in Columbus, well beyond the seasonal performance schedule. The education programs and outreach, and our accomplished Youth Orchestra, bring music and more to our children.

In terms of the business case for our Orchestra, many writers and economists emphasize the importance of the creative class as a central driver of the new economy. The CSO employs significant numbers of artists who live here, raise their families here, and spend their money here. Perhaps most importantly, for businesses small and large trying to attract and retain talent, the CSO represents an important part of our cultural fabric and our image as a great American city. Simply stated, no symphony, no great city.

The root of the symphony’s problems is our ailing economy. Working families in Central Ohio are being pinched at every turn for time and money. When one is forced to choose between food, fuel, and the finer arts, it is the latter which will suffer first. And without an audience, our performing arts organizations will need additional support from the same sources everyone else is tapping: individual donors and the business community.

So where are we investing in the creation of tomorrow’s jobs? Where is the support for innovation? Our region needs leadership and a long-term development strategy to help us take action and improve the things that matter.  Yes, I need food to live, and fuel to travel, but I need the arts to make the journey worth taking.

_____________________________________________________ 

Robinson is the Democratic candidate for Ohio's 12th U.S. Congressional District running against incumbent Pat Tiberi this fall. For more information on David Robinson and his policies, go to www.robinson2008.com.

NEA celebrates National Teacher Day each year on Tuesday of the first full week of May.

The day celebrates the outstanding work and lifelong dedication of teachers nationwide.

National Teacher Day came into being through the leadership and persistence of Eleanor Roosevelt. In 1953, she persuaded the 81st Congress to proclaim May 7 that year as National Teacher Day. PTA took Roosevelt's idea and dedicated a whole week to celebrate the accomplishments of educators.

PTA's annual Teacher Appreciation Week honors the dedicated men and women who lend their passion and skills to educating children.

The Nation's Largest Teacher Thank-You project was created in response to an NEA poll revealing that the gift nearly half of all teachers would most like to receive is a simple "thank you."

The Nation's Largest Teacher Thank-You Card project is an effort to collect thousands of thank-you messages to teachers from individuals across the nation. 

The message is simple:  Thank a Teacher!

Mercy For Animals has just released a shocking video from their latest undercover investigation documenting the routine cruelty, abuse and neglect found at battery cage egg farms.

This video made a major splash in today's LA Times and is now being featured on television stations across the state and country.

Help stop the growth of these social, environmental, and humanitarian nightmares known as factory farms, in Ohio.

• Watch the video here.
• Sign The Petition to Governor Ted Strickland urging him to ban new factory farms in Ohio.  We will hand-deliver your comments to the Governor and everyone who participates will be emailed a special video.
  
• Make a difference by incorporating some of these delicious egg-free, vegetarian recipes into your menu

Sincerely,
Freeman Wicklund
Mercy For Animals

Dear Supporter,

Please join us this Thursday, May 8th to take back the Ohio Healthy Families Act from the legislature. For 4 months the Ohio General Assembly has silenced millions of Ohioans and their families by failing to address this important proposed law.

On Thursday, May 8th the legislature's time will run out and the Ohioans for Healthy Families coalition will kick-off our drive to the ballot with a press conference and rally hosted by coalition partner, Progress Ohio.

Click here to RSVP for Thursday or to let us know you stand with the campaign!

Thursday's event will be the first step towards taking the Ohio Healthy Families Act back into the hands of the people and passing paid sick days on the November 4, 2008 General Election ballot.

With your continued help Ohioans will not be denied the basic right to care for their families!

What: The Ohioans for Healthy Families Drive to November Press Conference and Rally
Where: Progress Ohio, 251 S. 3rd Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215
When: Thursday, May 8th 2:00 pm

Click here to RSVP for Thursday or to let us know you stand with the campaign!

Despite over a quarter-million signatures of Ohio voters already collected, the Ohio General Assembly refuses to act on Paid Sick Days.

At the end of this week thousands across Ohio will begin signing petitions to place Paid Sick Days on the November ballot.  Legislators continue to take paid sick days themselves, and they continue to block our efforts on behalf of millions of hard working friends, family and neighbors who simply need the ability to EARN paid sick days to care for themselves and their families.
 
Go to http://www.sickdaysohio.org to download petitions now, email people in your circle, talk up our campaign and join us over the next 90 days as we succeed in giving Ohio voters an opportunity which the politicians want to deny. Signature gathering begins at 12:00 am May 9th!

Click here to RSVP for Thursday or to let us know you stand with us!

Thank you for you continued support!

Brian Dunn
Campaign Manager
Ohioans for Healthy Families

George W. Bushmask took to Ohio's streets today to rub elbows with the common man and reflect upon the past five years since his doppleganger declared Mission Accomplished:

Fired up? At least somewhat amused? Either way click here to write a Letter to the Editor today!

In the five years since non-Bushmask declared “Mission Accomplished”:•The U.S. military is strained to the breaking point – our men and women are on their 4th and 5th deployments to Iraq
• Gas prices have doubled
• The national debt has increased at a rate of $1.46 billion per day
• Every family of four in the U.S. has paid $16,500 to finance the Iraq war
The Progress Ohio community knows this. But decisionmakers in Washington have continued to enable Bush’s reckless Iraq policy.

We need your help to spread the message loud and clear: Ohio cannot afford endless war.

Choose as many newspapers as you like, then use our template and personalize your letter.

In just a few minutes you’ll help us frame the message on this fifth anniversary of the day Bush stood aboard an aircraft carrier and declared “Mission Accomplished.”

It’s up to you to get the word out: Ohio cannot afford endless war.

Use Progress Ohio’s SpeakOut tool to write a letter to the editor of your daily newspaper.

ProgressOhio is enlisting you!

Operation Objective: Provide a better night's sleep for deployed members of the Ohio National Guard.

Targets:  60 Twin-Sized Sheets. 80 Mattress Covers. Phone Cards. Plastic Hangers.

Secondary Objective:  Provide rations for the soldiers' families that help package the supplies.

Further mission details, including coordinates for supply depots available here.

Brian Rothenberg
Executive Director
ProgressOhio.org

Please forward to your friends and colleagues!

ProgressOhio - "We're Powered By You"

Paid Sick Days/ Mom's Rising Burrito-Gram Delivery today at the Statehouse

Watch it:

Make your voice heard – urge your State Senator or Representative to endorse the Ohio Healthy Families Act and encourage legislative leaders to allow its introduction.

Today at noon, some big-name Democrats, including Senator Jim Webb and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, will be leading a press conference on the steps of the Capitol - and they'll be joined by some of Congress's leading Republicans, including Senators Chuck Hagel and John Warner. With the political situation so polarized this election year, it's like seeing players from the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox sit down for Sunday afternoon tea.

What has brought them together? A commitment to ensuring that troops coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan get the chance to go to college.

After World War II, the "GI Bill" ensured that more than two million combat veterans could get a college education. Economists have said this legislation rebuilt the country after five years of war. Now, however, the GI Bill pays only a fraction of the cost of a four-year college - and today's veterans just aren't getting the same readjustment opportunities afforded to the Greatest Generation.

Read The Full Story Here or you can sign the petition to support our troops here.

Presidential hopeful wants to keep troops from leaving military for a college education

WASHINGTON - Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has suggested he would oppose a bipartisan measure by Virginia Sen. Jim Webb to expand college tuition benefits for military veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.

McCain told reporters Monday he was working on alternative legislation aimed at ensuring that troops do not leave the military earlier than planned to go to college.

McCain echoed the concern voiced by some in the Defense Department who worry that the promise of full college tuition could entice many troops to leave the military sooner than they otherwise might at a time of war.

McCain is saying that we can't keep troops in Iraq for 100 years if we offer them what we offered WW II veterans after 4 years of service.

Barack Obama hasn't quite clinched the Democratic nomination, but he's already laying the groundwork for the November election by trying to energize new voters and by providing an avenue for donors to give even more.

Today, his campaign announced "Vote for Change," what it described as an unprecedented 50-state voter registration and mobilization drive. The effort will launch with at least 83 events across the country on May 10 and has already launched a website. Four days earlier, if Obama can defeat Hillary Clinton in both Indiana and North Carolina, it's possible, though not likely, that he could force Clinton from the race.

"If we’re going to push back on the special interests and finally solve the challenges we face, we’re going to need everyone to get involved," Obama said in a statement. "Over the next six months, Vote for Change is going to bring new participants into the process, adding scores of new voices to this critical dialogue about our future. I started my career as a community organizer, and I worked to register voters in communities where hope was all but lost. I’ve seen what can happen when Americans re-engage and take ownership in the process."

The campaign takes credit for registering more than 200,000 new Democrats in Pennsylvania, more than 165,000 in North Carolina, and more than 150,000 new Democrats in Indiana. Obama has won the overwhelming majority of new voters in primaries and caucuses so far.

The Washington Post adds this interesting postscript

The program's other aim is to signal to Democratic leaders, and in particular uncommitted superdelegates, that Obama is the stronger general-election candidate. His 50-state strategy may have cost him votes in big states like California, Hildebrand and others have long argued, but the result of having campaigned everywhere is a nationwide grassroots organization, unlike any ever created by a presidential candidate.

Listen in to the announcement call

Register To Vote in Ohio Now!

"Earth Day 2008: Now Get Busy!" will enable 2,500 volunteers to make a difference this Saturday. Will you be one of them?

Green Columbus and partnering organizations have put together an action-packed day throughout central Ohio. From cleaning up rivers, to planting trees, to removing non-native plant species from our parks, we hope you'll join us and "Get Busy" this Saturday.

The morning work activities will be followed by a celebration at Goodale Park that features a free lunch for morning volunteers, booths for environmental organizations, live music, and speakers.

Click here to find out more or to sign up for a worksite

Now Get Busy Sponsors: Whole Foods Market, The Columbus Foundation, WWHOTV.com, Brighter Minds Media, Comfest, the Grossman Group, Columbus Recreation and Parks, Corna Kokosing, Great Lakes Brewing Company, Earth Share of Ohio, CD101, COTA, WCBE, MORPC, Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams, and Weisenbach

Click here for a map of worksite locations

David Robinson, 12th Congressional District Candidate, will be attending a Dublin house party at the home of Lucy and Al Gabel, located at 7190 Coffman Road on April 29, 2008 and beginning at 7:00 PM.

This event is open to all that wish to attend.

Suggested Donations: Sponsors-$200, Guests-$50

Please RSVP, by e-mail to agabel7190@aol.com or call 614-889-8282. Please include your name and telephone number with your RSVP.

Directions: Exit at 17A from 270, Rt. 33, 161. Go East to the first light. Turn left onto Post Rd. You will go going West over 270. At the first light, turn right onto Coffman Rd. Proceed North to 7190 Coffman Rd.

For more information about David Robinson and his campaign platform, please visit http://www,robinson2008.com

Wright, who retired in early 2008 as pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, where Senator Obama is a member, has been at the center of controversy for comments he made during sermons, which surfaced in the press in March.

More than 3,000 news stories have been penned since early April about Jeremiah Wright and Barack Obama. But behind the five second loop is a man who has preached three different sermons nearly every Sunday since 1972.

In his interview on BILL MOYERS JOURNAL, Reverend Wright discusses what drew him to the pulpit and the recent controversy surrounding him.