ProgressOhio

...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.

Another great cause: spread the word about Ohio's Paid Sick Days campaign: check out the MomsRising Mother's Day card 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.

A: The Republican delegation of Ohio Congressmen, who, in a display of startling idiocy, voted against "the goals and ideals of Mother's Day."

This wasn't a high-minded protest against do-nothing resolutions, no, it was more of the same, grandstanding and tactical procedures to stop votes on measures that don't mean much to the average Americans, like the mortgage relief act and the war funding bill.

So on behalf of America's hundred million mothers, we say thanks to the following:

Nay    OH-1    Chabot, Steven [R]              
Nay    OH-2    Schmidt, Jean [R]
Nay    OH-3    Turner, Michael [R]
Nay    OH-7    Hobson, David [R]
Nay    OH-8    Boehner, John [R]
Nay    OH-12    Tiberi, Patrick [R]
Nay    OH-14    LaTourette, Steven [R]
Nay    OH-15    Pryce, Deborah [R]
Nay    OH-16    Regula, Ralph [R]

Ouch.

That’s how it must feel for capital flaks these days.

While Ohioans are faced with a messaging barrage based on the Attorney General’s solar plexus, gone is a focus on the greenbacks of Ohioans gluteus maximus.

All Marc Dann. All the time. ProgressOhio’s front page, with its live news and blog feeds, is no different.

Over 650 mentions of pajamas that never were, coupled with the police complaint that led to no charges, the car accident that happened months ago and a third-level rogue bureaucrat named Anthony Gutierrez who rightfully looks like a scoundrel.

Blackberries and emails will never quite be the same for anyone with an address ending at .gov, as day after day some tabloid tidbit pops from the fingertip-sized memory of a blackberry drive.

It’s as if the world has stopped, and drip by drip, line by line, ticker by ticker and paper by paper Dann, Dann, Dann explodes byte by byte.

Caught in the zipper of tawdry headlines is Ohio’s struggling economy. Both parties made major election year moves to address Ohio’s ailing economy in the hearts and minds of our wallets last month. Did anyone notice?

John Boehner:

"With Senator McCain as our party's new leader, Republican candidates nationwide have an opportunity to convince Americans that we are ready to lead a movement for reform. Americans aren't interested in reliving the gas lines and the 'malaise' of the late 1970s," Boehner said in a statement.

"They're looking for real solutions to combat wasteful spending, provide tax relief, and strengthen our national security. They're looking for leaders who will help lower gas prices and strengthen our economy by expanding energy production. And they're looking for health care reform that puts patients and doctors back in charge, not bureaucrats in Washington, DC.

"In short, they're looking for leaders with the wisdom and good judgment to trust families more than government," Boehner concluded. "If Republican candidates can seize the mantle of reform, and convince Americans that we can fix a broken Washington, we will succeed in November."

Ummmm John? Republicans Will Fix a Broken Washington?

In the words of Colin Powell, "You break it, you own it".

Clearly, the American People think Republicans should pay for all you and President Bush have broken in the last 8 years.

Today's Columbus Dispatch reports findings of a Central Ohio survey that documents discrimination aimed at the LGBT community.

The survey is the just latest evidence of Ohio's need to pass pending legislation that would outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

On Tuesday, May 15th, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hear testimony on Senate Bill 305, which seeks to ban such discrimination in housing, employment or public accommodation.

Survey's respondents report threats, intolerance

They are mostly healthy, in committed relationships and happy with central Ohio's social scene.

But people responding to a first-ever survey of area gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender residents also report high levels of depression, face threats because of their sexual orientation and often suffer discrimination in the workplace.

The findings show that Columbus, although known as a gay-friendly city, still has some work to do, survey organizers said.

"We have to create a community in which everyone feels welcome and everyone feels at home, now," said Bill LaFayette, vice president of economic analysis for the Columbus Chamber.

"I think it's important for the business community to take a look at this, and take a look at themselves."

LaFayette was a volunteer member of the steering committee for the "GLBT Census of Central Ohio," a project led by the Columbus AIDS Task Force, Stonewall Columbus and the United Way of Central Ohio.

Organizers said they opted for the anonymous, online survey to attract the most participants. It isn't possible to extract demographic snapshots of the entire gay and lesbian community from U.S. Census data because it does not ask about sexual orientation.

An estimated 35,000 gay, lesbian and bisexual residents live in Columbus, with about 68,000 in the metro area.

Read The Full Story Here

ProgressOhio has created a website "Do What's Right Ohio" in association with our friends and allies at Equality Ohio.

The website will officially launch next week.

Trader Joe's announced on Thursday it will stop selling eggs from Gemperle Enterprises.

A video was shot by a member of the 'Mercy for Animals' organization infiltrated the farm.

MFA says chickens there live in squalor, and are routinely brutalized.

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

Ohio Healthy Families Act Will Go To Ballot

130,000-member Ohio Education Association Joins Paid Sick Days Coalition

From a Press Conference held yesterday at ProgressOhio:

Ignoring the 270,000 Ohio voters who signed petitions calling for enactment of paid sick day legislation, the Ohio General Assembly has failed to pass or even vote on the Ohio Healthy Families Act within the time allotted under the "initiated statute" provision of the state Constitution.

"The leadership of the General Assembly has clearly ignored the 2.2 million Ohio workers and families who lack paid sick days and were counting on their elected representatives. When our elected leaders fail to represent their constituents, it is in the hands of groups like The Paid Sick Days Coalition to bring together the diverse groups affected and fight for what Ohioans need and deserve.

Our elected officials don't have to make the choice between a paycheck and caring for their family. The taxpayers, who are the backbone of our state's economy should be able to earn the same right to paid sick days."

The 130,000-member Ohio Education Association was introduced as the newest member of the coalition.

William Leibensperger, a high school English teacher who is OEA vice president, said the group's representative assembly voted to endorse the paid sick days law.

Mr. Leibensperger said situations in which parents cannot afford to take time off to care for an ill child have consequences for the health of other students.

"All too often, because of the lack of paid sick leave, loving parents have to make the ... difficult choice between a pay check and caring for the child," he said.

"As a result, sometimes children will come to school when they are too ill to be active participants in class, and they risk spreading illness to their classmates and others in the school building," Mr. Leibensperger said.

Mr. Dunn said over 2.2 million Ohio workers currently are unable to earn a single paid sick day.

"Over three and one-half million workers in our state can't take a paid sick day to care for a sick child. And an astounding 670,000 workers in this state who every day come in close contact with the public cannot take even a single paid sick day when they are ill," he said.

Backers said 58% of private sector workers already enjoy paid sick leave. Laws similar to the one proposed in Ohio are being considered in a dozen other states, but Ohio is believed the only one with a ballot campaign.

WASHINGTON - Cindy McCain says she will never make her tax returns public even if her husband wins the White House and she becomes the first lady.

"You know, my husband and I have been married 28 years and we have filed separate tax returns for 28 years. This is a privacy issue. My husband is the candidate," Cindy McCain, wife of Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting John McCain, said in an interview aired on NBC's "Today" on Thursday.

Asked if she would release her tax returns if she was first lady, Cindy McCain said: "No."

Hmm. The Clintons released returns for both Bill and Hillary. The Obamas released returns for both Barack and Michelle. But Cindy McCain's tax materials will remain private.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess this has something to do with the fact that Mrs. McCain is very, very wealthy, with assets estimated at about $100 million, including a private jet the McCain campaign currently leases.

Someone might even be tempted to call the McCains "elites."

I'd just add that in 2004, the Republican National Committee spent quite a bit of time and energy demanding that the Kerry campaign release Teresa Heinz Kerry's tax returns.

The situation is comparable. John Kerry made less money than his wife, who inherited most of her fortune. The McCains are in a similar boat. In 2004, Teresa Heinz Kerry resisted calls for disclosure, just as Cindy McCain is now. Republicans insisted that all materials, relating to Kerry's income and his wife's, be publicly released, and the Kerrys ultimately agreed. Will Cindy do the same?

It's pretty simple: if we hold the McCains to the standards set by the Republican Party, today's disclosures by McCain are inadequate and incomplete.

Watch it: 

"In Ohio, twice as many people participated in the Democratic primary as in the Republican primary—2.2 million for Democrats to 1 million for Republicans—and thousands of Ohio Republicans switched parties to vote for a Democrat.

In fact, in seven counties in Ohio—Putnam, Brown, Shelby, Belmont, Warren, Delaware, and Clarmont—the vote totals for our two Democratic candidates in the 2008 primary exceeded the votes for John Kerry in the general election in each of those counties."

You may have heard of Rev. John Hagee, the McCain supporter who said God created Hurricane Katrina to punish New Orleans for its homosexual "sins." 

Of course many of us in Ohio are more familiar with Rev. Rod Parsley, the televangelist megachurch pastor from our state who hates Islam and gays.

According to David Corn of Mother Jones, Parsley has called on Christians to wage war against Islam, which he considers to be a "false religion."  In the past, Parsley has also railed against the separation of church and state, homosexuals, and abortion rights, comparing Planned Parenthood to Nazis.

John McCain actively sought and received Parsley's endorsement in the presidential race.  McCain has called Parsley "a spiritual guide," and he hasn't said whether he shares Parsley's vicious anti-Islam views.  That's because the mainstream media refuses to ask.  And so, we've taken matters into our own hands, joining Mother Jones to present the truth about McCain's pastor.

Since the media won't question McCain about his deeply bigoted pastor, it's up to you to call attention to this issue.  Make McCain's pastor problem a major story by forwarding this video to your family, friends, and colleagues.

We can't let McCain get away with aligning himself with a religious leader who's called for an all-out war on Islam, someone who draws no distinctions between Muslims and violent Islamic extremists.  Now is the crucial time to act.

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) skipped the vote on the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which “restores the longstanding interpretation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act,” overturned last year by a 5-4 Supreme Court ruling. In New Orleans today, McCain explained his opposition to the bill by claiming it “opens us up to lawsuits for all kinds of problems.” Later in New Orleans, he added that instead of legislation allowing women to fight for equal pay, they simply need “education and training“:

“They need the education and training, particularly since more and more women are heads of their households, as much or more than anybody else,” McCain said. “And it’s hard for them to leave their families when they don’t have somebody to take care of them.

“It’s a vicious cycle that’s affecting women, particularly in a part of the country like this, where mining is the mainstay; traditionally, women have not gone into that line of work, to say the least,” he said.

The issue is not “education and training.” When denied equal pay by her supervisor, Lilly Ledbetter was doing the exact same job as her male counterparts and received numerous performance-based awards.

Equal pay has been the law since 1963. But today, nearly 45 years later, women are still paid less than men—even with similar education, skills and experience.

In 2007, women are paid only 77 cents for every dollar a man is paid, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Economist Evelyn Murphy, president and founder of The WAGE Project, estimates the wage gap costs the average full-time U.S. woman worker between $700,000 and $2 million over the course of her work life.

These figures are even worse for women of color. African American women earn only 68 cents and Latinas 57 cents for every dollar that men earn. Asian American and Pacific Islander American women earn less, too. Their pay inequality is less severe than for women as a whole, but they still earned only 88 cents for every dollar that men earned in 2000.

To make matters worse, the U.S. Supreme Court has made it harder for women to prove they are the victims of pay inequality. The High Court ruled in May 2007 that women who believe they are being denied equal pay must file suit within 180 days after the discrimination occurs.

In a strong dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the only woman on the court, said the majority opinion “overlooks common characteristics of pay discrimination.”

When women get equal pay, their family incomes rise and the whole family benefits. Equal pay helps men, too.

Fact Sheet on Equal Pay in Ohio (pdf)

Some content included in this report provided by The Center For American Progress

Less than a week after the Ohio House approved HB545 which would create true industry reform for the payday lending industry in Ohio, Ohio Senate Republicans are playing "three card monte" with Payday Lending legislation.

First Senate Senate President Bill Harris (R-Ashland) replaced Sen. Ron Amstutz (R-Wooster) with Sen. Jeff Jacobson (R-Vandalia).

Asked about the change, Sen. Harris said he wanted to offer the president pro tempore, who has served in the legislature since 1992, an opportunity to serve on the finance committee.

"It's my prerogative when I think a member needs to get some experience on a committee," he said. "I thought Sen. Jacobson - you know he's term-limited - should have a chance."

Perhaps it would be more truthful if Senator Harris had said, "I really don't want someone who has to face the scrutiny of the voters being involved with what we are trying to do here".  I mean really Senator Harris why does someone who will be leaving the Ohio Senate suddenly need to get "experience on the finance committee" before they leave?

Second a draft amendment has been proposed that would retain the 28% annual percentage rate cap in the measure (HB 545*), but would permit lenders to charge additional fees of $13 for every $100 borrowed, the Ohio Coalition for Responsible Lending said. That would translate into a 367% APR, rather than the current 391% APR, which includes all interest and fee charges.

This is the "three card monte" game being played here.  Lower the usury interest rates currently being charged and then give it back to the lenders in "increased fees" which will be rolled into the loans.

"You can apply lipstick and a new pig, but it's still the same pig," OCRL Legislative Chair Bill Faith said in a statement. "This is phony reform. It's simply a different spin on numbers that result in the same high APR and the same debt trap that 300,000 Ohioans found themselves caught in last year."

A similar plan previously went into effect in Michigan, which has the worst payday debt cycle in the nation, he said. "If you want to bleed Ohio families to death in debt, this is another good way to do it. Certainly, Ohio can beat Michigan when it comes to protecting our consumers."

Seemingly stunned by their apparent set back in the Ohio house last week, the industry has been targeting senators by busing in industry workers who received a paid vacation day to come to the Statehouse and by paying industry workers to make repeated calls on company time to Senators while reading from a script prepared by the industry, along with ponying up whatever it takes to Ohio's biggest lobbyists to be allowed to continue to prey on Ohio's poor and needy.

The bottom line is will Ohio Republican Senators make it happen and will Ohio's Democratic Senators and Ohio's Governor go along with it?

See Also: The twists and turns of payday lending

In a New York Times/CBS News poll released earlier this week, 28% of Americans said that the media have been “easier” on Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) compared to just 12% and 22% who believe they have been “easier” on Sens. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Barack Obama (D-IL), respectively. A new study by the Project for Excellence in Journalism shows that McCain has received significantly less media coverage than the Democratic candidates.

During Tuesday’s Democratic Presidential Primary coverage on MSNBC, Chris Matthews and Tim Russert both admit to ignoring the countless gaffes and blunders committed by John McCain.

The basic message was this: as long as there is a campaign battle between Obama and Clinton, they will continue to give John McCain a complete free pass.

Watch it:

A 14-year-old Fort Gratiot girl made a brave stand against John McCain Wednesday at a campaign event at Oakland University in Rochester, according to Detroit's Fox 2 News.

The girl, Hayley Alderman, stood behind McCain, the presumed Republican nominee for president, wearing a shirt that read, "John McCain doesn't care about our future."

Spotting the young dissenter, McCain called on her for the first question, saying town halls "are for people who agree and for people who disagree."

She questioned his absence for a vote that would have given "equal rights to women, equal pay."

McCain's answer?  To not answer.

He blew the question off with some gobbledegook about trial lawyers.

"I don't believe that this would do anything to help the rights of women except maybe help trial lawyers and others in that profession," he said.

McCain dismisses equal pay legislation, says women need more ‘training and education.’

Columbus, Ohio: You boldy predicted that Bush’s approval ratings would rebound — instead he is, according to Gallup, the most unpopular presdient [sic] in history. Will you finally admit that your vision for this nation has been overwhelmingly rejected by the majority of the people?

Karl Rove: Get your facts right — there are at least three president who had worse approval ratings, Truman, Johnson and Nixon. I’m absolutely positive history will be kind to this president, who made the right decisions in a difficult time for this nation.

Rove needs to get his facts straight. The questioner is right. While Bush’s approval rating is not the lowest in history (but still near the bottom), his disapproval rating is actually the worst. According to the recent Gallup poll referenced by the questioner, Bush is indeed the most unpopular president in history — beating Truman, Johnson, and Nixon:

A recent poll of professional historians also found that “98.2 percent assessed the presidency of Mr. Bush to be a failure while 1.8 percent classified it as a success.” More than 61 percent of the historians “concluded that the current presidency is the worst in the nation’s history.”

Rove says he is still “absolutely positive history will be kind to this president.” How positive is he? As positive as he was that Republicans would win the 2006 elections?

Original Content From Center For American Progress

Twelve nuns, all at least 80, one 98 years old, were denied the right to vote yesterday in Indiana, thanks to a law mandating photo IDs. 

Here's the top Republican in the House, Ohio's John Boehner, two weeks ago on the law, which the Supreme Court upheld in a party-line vote (guess which party voted to make it more difficult for the poor and elderly to vote):

Republicans, meanwhile, praised the decision for recognizing the threat of voter fraud. "Today's ruling rightfully allows states to safeguard against such destructive abuse," said House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio.

The hearings were held under the authority the Office has been granted in the Consumer Sales Practices Act.

The report, "Costly Cash: 2008 Payday Lending Hearings," was released to the Governor and General Assembly today in conjunction with hearings taking place in the Senate on the payday lending bill that recently passed the House.

Ohio Attorney General Payday Web

Related: Blue Bexley You might want to write your State Senator

McCain drops the geography ball again and this time Lieberman isn't there to pick it up.

McCain just said the United States should set up a missle defense system in Czechoslovakia. Should we assume he meant the Czech Republic?

As Democracy Arsenal points out, this isn't entirely trivial given his on-going Sunni-Shia switcheroos. Further, if McCain thinks missle defense in the region are strategically important, stupid mistakes like this won't help win their approval. 

How long until McCain does something else ridiculous like refer to the people of Greece as Grecians. Er, wait.