Equal Rights For Women? Is That Radical And Extreme? Only For Trump Republicans

Last month we mentioned that when the Virginia legislature, now controlled by the Democrats, passed ERA-- the Equal Rights Amendment-- Trump and his Republican enablers were still attempting to prevent it from being added to the Constitution. And that continues, of course. But yesterday, the House passed Jackie Speier's H.J. Resolution 79 removing the deadline for the ratification of the amendment.

Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, took to the floor to urge her colleagues to vote for the bill. Actually it was more like a celebratory statement, since she already knew the bill was going to pass. "What a glorious day this is! Today, the House will vote to remove the arbitrary deadline to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. With our vote today, and with Virginia’s historic vote to become the thirty-eighth and final state necessary to ratify the amendment, little girls, their moms and women across this country will know that yes, our Constitution can and will enshrine a ban on discrimination on the basis of sex. Equality of the sexes is not debatable. It has no expiration date. First proposed almost a century ago and passed by Congress in 1972, the Equal Rights Amendment would be a momentous step forward for women-- to end unequal pay, pregnancy discrimination and sexual harassment and exploitation. To women across the country who are watching today, let me just say: 'We see you and we stand with you' as we take this step toward equal rights."

Every single Democrat, even the worst Blue Dogs, voted for passage. And, of course almost all of the Republicans did as well. Almost. Five Republicans broke with Trump and McCarthy and crossed the aisle to vote with the Democrats. After all, half their constituents are women and they must have figured that out. The Republicans who voted in solidarity with women were John Curtis (UT), Rodney Davis (IL), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA), Tom Reed (NY) and Jeff Van Drew (NJ). The rest of the Republicans in the House-- or 182 of them anyway (+ ex-Republican Justin Amash)-- voted to continue waging the GOP war against women.

Audrey Denney is running for Congress in the northeast corner of California, a seat held by anti-equality Republican Doug LaMalfa. Audrey told us that she is "inspired by the women who have been unceasingly fighting for the Equal Rights Amendment for decades. Now that the ERA has passed the requisite number of states required to become law, we must continue to advocate for it to become a part of our Constitution and we must continue to fight to ensure that nobody is discriminated against based on their gender. This has been a bad week for Rep. LaMalfa’s record on defending women as he voted against enshrining the ERA in the Constitution and was one of only 37 Representatives to vote against the wildly bipartisan H.R.1980 which would have established a Smithsonian Museum of women’s history. Rep. LaMalfa claims to be 'one of us,' yet makes it clear from his votes that he doesn’t advocate for the women of our nation or California’s First District.

Liam O'Mara is also a California progressive running for Congress. His district, in Riverside County, is represented-- poorly-- by reactionary Republican Ken Calvert, who was arrested after being caught in a parked car with an underage, drugged-up prostitute (his pants down around his ankles)-- and then trying to flee from the police. Obviously, Calvert voted against the Equal Rights Amendment. Liam would have been proud to vote for it. "182 Republican legislators did not consider women worthy of equal citizenship (many do not consider women fully equal as humans, of course)," he told us after the vote. "One of those 'no' votes was Corrupt Ken Calvert, the Republican who has held CD-42 since 1993. Even half a century after the ERA was introduced, he still does not think women deserve legal equality. It is a sad fact of American life that in some ways a male corpse has more rights than a living woman, and the reason for this is 100% the Republican party. It remains beholden to the same sort of reactionary views on femininity which animated the fascist movement, and this anti-woman agenda is one more element of the GOP's steady drift into overt neofascism. Are women people? Do they deserve to be regarded as free and equal citizens? Vote to replace Calvert and the other 182 Republicans who disagree."

In southeast Missouri-- Limbaugh country-- the local congressman, Jason Smith, isn't someone anyone could possibly expect to either break with his party leadership or vote for women's equality. Cathy Ellis is the progressive Democrat taking him on. She told us that "Today is a proud day for the ERA and for women across this country. I have been a proud advocate for the ERA since I was young, and I am honored to see it finally move forward towards ratification. Unfortunately, my opponent does not feel this way. Jason Smith proudly voted no today, and he should truly be ashamed of himself. A vote against the ERA is a vote against women and equality. It’s time for a new leader in Missouri’s 8th that respects the rights of all people to have equal treatment under the law. It’s clear where Smith stands and who he works for. He doesn’t work for women, the LGBTQ+, our animals, our unions, or our families. All I can say is-- I’ll see him in November.”


Steve King isn't someone anyone would expect to stand up for women either. He's the only member of the Iowa congressional delegation to vote NO-- and J.D. Scholten wants to make sure it's the last time he votes against equality for women. "Today," said Scholten,"should have been one of Steve King’s easiest votes to cast: removing the arbitrary deadline to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment and banning discrimination on the basis of sex. Unsurprisingly, King voted no. This is a slap in the face to the 380,000 women and girls in Iowa’s 4th district and millions more across this country. Plain and simple: Steve King does not value women. He sees them as vehicles for childbirth-- but to him, that’s the extent of their worth. King couldn’t be more wrong that women deserve full lived and legal equality under the law, and are critical to the success of our communities, government, culture, and economy."

You might think Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a fairly senior Republican woman, might speak up for the ERA. But then you'd be wrong. She voted NO today and her progressive opponent in the Spokane-centered district, Chris Armitage noticed. "This," he said, "is a continuation of Cathy's near three decade long crusade to ensure that women, the LGBT community, and marginalized communities are not protected from discrimination. Whether voting against the Equal Rights Amendment, Same Sex Marriage, or even something as simple as changing the word 'Oriental' to 'Asian' in WA State Documents, Cathy has remained reliably bigoted. Now she is one of Trump's most important fundraising chairs. This is a race she won by single digits in 2018 and as she runs for her 9th term, her pro-discrimination platform will lose her this Congressional seat."

Jon Hoadley's opponent, Fred Upton, tries painting himself as a moderate in a moderate district-- and then he gives in (always) to the slightest pressure from the extremists who run the GOP. Upton was a NO vote. State Rep Hoadley told us that Upton "turned his back on every single woman in Michigan and across the country. Upton's vote against allowing the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment to move forward is completely inexcusable and downright shameful. Equality isn't partisan, it doesn't expire, and it's long past time that we ensure that women have equal rights, equal protections under the law, and equal pay in the workplace. It's time the women of Southwest Michigan have someone representing them who values them every bit as much as they value their male constituents-- in Congress, I'll always fight for equality."

Want to help replace LaMalfa, Calvert, Smith, King, McMorris Rodgers and Upton with men and women who believe in equality? That's why I included the 2020 Blue America congressional thermometer above.

Even Candidates Enthusiastic About Trump Being Impeached, Would Rather Talk About Substantive Economic Issues

The Trump Snowball Effect by Nancy Ohanian

The new Gallup poll-- which was in the field before the gravity of the Ukraine scandal and impeachment hit the mass media-- is pretty devastating for Trump. It isn't just his job approval that is underwater either. Don't get me wrong. His job approval is in the toilet-- just 40% of adults approve. But far worse is what Americans think of Trump as a human being. His approval as a person is 6 points lower-- 34%.

Interestingly, the worst fall-off is among Republicans and self-described weekly church goers. 87% of Republicans approve of the job Trump is doing. But just 76%-- 11 points lower-- say they approve of him as a person. Similarly, among weekly church goers, 54% approve of the job he's doing but just 44% approve of him as a person.

Gallup reputed that the "ratings of Trump as a person are similar to those of Clinton in the final 16 months of his presidency, during a period when Clinton's personal behavior was being heavily criticized by both parties." The big difference, however is that even though Americans didn't like Clinton the man, they approved of the job he was doing for the country. His job approval remained high, very much unlike Trump's, which remains historically low.

Republicans continue-- with less and less success-- trying to bolster Trump's image with false narratives cooked up in a White House few people outside of the GOP/Fox News base lend any credence at all. Take Liz Peek, a wealthy right-wing propagandist from Wall Street and the first woman elected president of the National Association of Petroleum Investment Analysts. She's all over right-wing media spreading Trumpist talking points. Last week she was spewing her ridiculous poison for The Hill: Trump scores political win with vow to protect Medicare. Her point doesn't hold up because no one believes anything Trump says, except the 30-some-odd percent of brain-washed Republicans who believe everything he says. He's destroying Medicare and allowing pharmaceutical companies to raise prices while painting himself as a hero of the elderly. Peek knows that. But Peek's as much a liar as Trump is. "Trump," she gushed moronically, "promised to defend Medicare against Medicare for All and issued an executive order detailing numerous changes aimed at strengthening the program, increasing choice and combatting fraud. Sheer political genius. First, the optics are excellent. Trump is out talking to Americans about real problems while Speaker Nancy Pelosi is busily orchestrating the six House committees beavering away at impeaching the president. She refuses to sanctify this latest attack on the president by taking a floor vote on the measure, but vouches for its importance, all the while fending off critics who say Congress is not producing for the American people. Do-Nothing Congress has been a favorite refrain of the president lately, and the hashtag has trended on Twitter." Everyday-- despite 24 hours of this kind of Trumpist nonsense on Fox and Hate Talk radio and from propadanda writers like Peek, the number of Americans who want Trump impeached and removed increases. Public support for Trump's impeachment is already higher than it was for Nixon and Bill Clinton when the House launched impeachment inquiries against them. Worse still, "The change since May has largely come among independents and Republicans... [S]upport for impeachment and removal has risen 11 points to 46% among independents and 8 points to 14% among Republicans. A majority of the public didn't support impeaching Nixon until a few weeks before he resigned."

Meanwhile, even though all the Blue America-endorsed candidates favor impeachment, few of them have moved it front and center in their campaigns. What they prefer to talk about is what they hope to accomplish when they're elected. And in 2021 Trump is likely to be long gone, his fate in the hands of law enforcement and the judicial branch. Example, Milwaukie, Oregon mayor Mark Gamba, is no fan of Trump's, but he's running for a seat held by a conservative Blue Dog, Kurt Schrader. "There is nothing sustainable about our current economic system," he told me a few days ago, a rebuke to both Trump and Schrader. "It is not sustainable environmentally and it’s certainly not sustainable economically. Strong economies are based on a strong middle class. In this country, for the last 40 years, the middle class has been getting poorer relative to the cost of everything, and the poor are becoming homeless in record numbers. The status quo politicians live to serve their billionaire masters, not the average hard-working American. It is long past time to elect leaders who are not beholden to the billionaires and the corporations. I look forward to serving under President Sanders and to fixing our unsustainable economy by taxing the rich and making sure that everyone else is living the dignified life they deserve for their hard work."

Marie Newman, the Chicago progressive running for the congressional seat occupied by reactionary Blue Dog Dan Lipinski, hit the name right on the head: "Impeachment is important. We must address this president’s crimes, however, everybody’s everyday is important too which is why my whole campaign is centered around making life more affordable with Medicare For All, paid leave, universal childcare, raising wages, empowering unions and job creation in green infrastructure and transportation."

Rachel Ventura, the Chicagoland candidate taking on multimillionaire out-of-touch New Dem Bill Foster, would much rather talk about the Green New Deal than Trump's problems. Last week she said that "The best way to close the wealth gap is to pass the Green New Deal. This 16 Trillion dollar job package will put Americans back to work at living wages complete with healthcare by rebuilding our infrastructure to be fossil fuel free. Fighting the climate crisis will create opportunities so our economy and government can work for everyone."

Passing bills like Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) will give workers a say in their workplace, and make it easier for them to form a union and collectively bargain for fair wages and benefits. Passing H.R. 1384 Bill Medicare for All, would provide relief for both the business and the employee by cutting out an unnecessary middle-man insurance company, lowing costs and saving tax payers hundreds of dollars plus preventing bankruptcies from healthcare costs.

Yesterday I took my fifth trip to the strike line in Bolingbrook, IL where workers are entering their third week of the strike. One striking worker let me know how much the CEO of GM made-- $22 million. I used Ecosia.org instead of Google to confirm the figure. Ecosia is the environmentally friendly search engine that plants a tree when you enter a search. Indeed, Mary Berra made just under $22M as her entire compensation package in 2018. UAW workers are striking because they want to do away with the two-tiered system that pays some employees less than what their counterparts are making, even though both employees are doing the same work. I suppose that paying workers more might cut into Ms. Berra's $22M.

As long as the system works for Wall Street speculators and wealthy CEO's like Mary Berra, workers will continue to struggle and the wealth divide in America will only grow. My opponent is a pro-Wall Street guy who sits on Financial Services Committee and takes money from investors and bankers. I will be a fighter for workers who want a better life, for those who want to change the system, and for those who are willing to strike. We need a leader who understands we all deserve a shot at the full American dream.

Cathy Ellis' southeast Missouri district is very red. She's all in on impeachment but appealing to voters there has much more to do with a progressive economic agenda that she talks about when she meets the voters. "Working for change in rural areas is tough," she told us this morning, "but it's possible. In my own District, Missouri's 8th, I've seen first-hand the positive impact that simply 'showing up' has in our communities. Just last week, our campaign organized a Healthcare Community Forum in Ironton, one of the smaller cities in the District. We anticipated 25 or so people would attend. We had 50+ people, and it was standing room only. People are concerned about their healthcare, and they're ready to do something about it. People in rural areas are ready for change, but they haven't been given choices for so long. For too long, the Democratic party and progressives have ignored rural areas, and they haven't run candidates in them. They've viewed them as too difficult to win, and too difficult to work in. Because of this, they haven't showed up and listened to the concerns of rural residents. My experience shows that when candidates show up and listen-- truly listen-- people are receptive to what they have to say. Just last cycle, many progressive ballot initiatives passed in the 8th District because people actually began to organize there. The future of rural areas depends on the investment by candidates, legislators, and presidential candidates. We need people to show up and listen. The Republican party isn't abandoning rural areas, and neither should we. Flipping a rural District is a marathon, not a sprint, but it's a race we're finding is winnable."