HJR 23 has a Hearing in the Senate Ways & Means Committee TOMORROW,

Wednesday, April 8, 2009, Upon Morning Adjournment

Senate Committee Room 1

HJR 23, a TABOR-like bill, would create an additional constitutional revenue/spending lid in Missouri that would permanently tie Missouri to the current fiscal crisis and deteriorate Missouri ’s ability to fund basic services. The bill was changed slightly in the House. The largest change was the permanent tax reduction resulting when the revenue hits the “TABOR” lid was changed to a temporary tax reduction. The bill however is still TABOR and would still have very damaging impacts on Missouri ’s ability to fund services and invest in education and infrastructure. (See attached talking points for more information).

We need Your Help to secure a “no” vote in the Committee. Please Testify or Submit Written Testimony to the Senate Ways & Means Committee members. Ask that they vote NO on HJR 23- TABOR.

Committee Members:

Senator Vogel: carl_vogel@senate.mo.gov, 573-751-2076

Senator Lembke: Jim.lembke@senate.mo.gov 573-751-2315

Senator Bartle: matt_bartle@senate.mo.gov 573-751-1464

Senator Bray: jbray@senate.mo.gov 573-751-2514

Senator Lager: Brad.Lager@senate.mo.gov 573-751-1415

Senator Purgason: chuck.purgason@senate.mo.gov 573-751-1882
Senator Schmitt: Eric.schmitt@senate.mo.gov 573-751-2853

Senator Jones: Robin.jones@senate.mo.gov 573-751-2606

The Employee Free Choice Act’s fate increasingly hinges on Sens. Blanche L. Lincoln (D-Ark.) and Mary L. Landrieu (D-La.) — two wavering moderates who would love to dodge the controversy.

As Big Labor and Big Business gird for a free-for-all on the Employee Free Choice Act, the bill’s fate increasingly hinges on Sens. Blanche L. Lincoln (D-Ark.) and Mary L. Landrieu (D-La.) — two wavering moderates who would love to dodge the controversy.

via Business, unions swarm Hill – Glenn Thrush – POLITICO.com.

via CQ Politics | Political Gender Bias Remains Alive and Well.

Rep. Jan Schakowsky is hoping for a “big change moment” to tackle women’s concerns.

WASHINGTON (WOMENSENEWS)–In June, Michelle Obama made a last-minute decision to take time out of her campaign schedule to speak at the annual fundraising luncheon for the National Partnership for Women and Families, a nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C., that lobbies for workplace fairness and balance.

It was an auspicious sign that the group would have a key ally in the White House if her husband, Barack Obama, won the presidential race.

Now first lady, Michelle Obama has appointed Jocelyn Frye, formerly the general counsel for the National Partnership, to be her policy director and has pledged to use her position to help working women balance responsibilities to their careers and families.

Michelle Obama has not publicly laid out a work-family legislative agenda; a spokesperson did not return a call for comment.

But the president supports legislation that would narrow the gender pay gap, lower the cost of child care, encourage companies to offer flexible work schedules, protect workers with caregiving responsibilities from discrimination and expand leave benefits to employees.

Efforts to tackle these problems have come up short in recent years, partly because President Bush opposed many of them.

But with a new president and first lady championing work-life balance issues–and with Democrats in firmer control of Congress–lawmakers and advocates see the possibility for major change on the horizon.

“I have every hope this is one of those moments, those big change moments,” said Rep. Jan Schakowsky, an Illinois Democrat who is the new co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Women’s Issues, a bipartisan group of female lawmakers in the House of Representatives. “I don’t see change happening in small increments.”

Schakowsky spoke to Women’s eNews in a recent interview.

via Liberal Groups Are Flexing New Muscle in Lobby Wars – NYTimes.com.

via U.S. won’t participate in racism conference | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton plans to name human rights activist Michael Posner to the position of assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights, and labor, Bloomberg News reports. Posner is currently the director of Human Rights First.

via Clinton to Name Human Rights Activist as Assistant Secretary of State | RHRealityCheck.org.

Watch video after the jump.

What is the greatest challenge or worry in ensuring the stimulus money is well-spent in your state?

Getting people back to work and, plus, making a transformation to a new economy. This is not just a Band-Aid on a problem. This is an opportunity to transform our economy. I believe that one of the important stools of the future of this economy is workers and worker training.” -Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon (D)

The total of cost of all the projects submitted by Missouri is $3,760,293,491

I attended Congressman Carnahan’s State of the District address in Festus along with several other members of the 8th Ward.  I was impressed with the frankness with which he addressed questions and also the responsiveness of his staff.  A transcript of his speech is below:

Good Afternoon / Evening

(Special Recognitions)

Thank record number of voters who hired me for a third term to serve..

It is an honor to represent you …and it is my job to not just represent you, but even those who didn’t vote for me, didn’t vote at all, or are waiting to be voters.

Now more than ever, we are all in this together.

I want to thank all of you for coming and give special thanks to my Congressional Advisory Committees and the thousands who have written, e-mailed, called, or met with in Missouri and Washington.

Your combined ideas inform me and your common sense ideals inspire me – everyday as your Representative in Congress.

STAFF

FAMILY

Of all the remarks I have made over the years about the State of the District, these are without question the toughest times we have ever faced.

Thank you to all who braved the bitter cold to help out.  Thanks also to Dana Grey of SouthWest Garden for providing hot chocolate and Floyd Wright for taking pictures. Check out the media center for more pictures of this event.

8th ward cleanup day

Join 8th Ward Committeewoman Cara Jensen for President-Elect Barack Obama’s Day of Service on Monday, Jan 19, 2009 .  Meet at the Southwest Garden Neighborhood Association Office ( 4950 Southwest Ave. ) at noon to help clean up some of our busiest thoroughfares.  We will focus on Kingshighway, Vandeventer, and Southwest Avenues within the 8th Ward of the City of St. Louis .  Please call 773-2881 for more information.

For more information on this Day of Service, click

http://www.usaservice.org

I want to especially thank those members of the 8th ward who came out and supported this celebration.  As chair of the event, it meant a lot to me to see “my people” there having a good time.

A big Thank You to all who came out to the Pageant for our Presidential Inauguration Celebration on Tuesday night!  We collected over 990 pounds of food for Operation Food Search and drank almost 8 kegs of Schlafly InaugurALE!!

Check out the event pictures and videos:

http://stltoday.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=675985&CategoryID=38925

http://toastedrav.com/post/6181/trav_video#0

http://stlouis.metromix.com/events/photogallery/inauguration-for-the-people/906428/content

We would love to post your pictures of the event!  Please send them to citydemsparty@sbcglobal.net.

There are still event t-shirts available.  These are one-of-a-kind-historic-memorabilia-kinda shirts with the Schlafly “InaugurALE” logo on the front and the event details on the back.

Shirts are $10 and sizes range from S to 3XL

A limited supply of logo bottles are also available with each t-shirt order – when they are gone, they are gone!!

Please email citydemsparty@sbcglobal.net with your order.

Special thanks:

• The Pageant
• Operation Food Search
• Schlafly Brewery
• Joe Dryer & Rosemary Watts
• The Sean Holland Band
• Paul Brown and the Killing Devils
• DJ Tossin’ Ted
• Thurman Grill & Provisions
• Donna Brooks, City Cable Channel 10
• Gerald Palmer
• Our volunteers