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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 19, 2014)
Senate GOP blocks amendment to reform campaign finance laws WASHINGTON, D.C. (PAI) — Senate Republicans blocked a constitu- tional amendment designed to let law- makers overturn two U.S. Supreme Court decisions that let unlimited cor- porate and individual campaign cash dominate U.S. politics. In its infamous Citizens United ruling in 2010, the five- man GOP-named court majority said, in so many words, that money equals speech. Senate Democrats needed 60 votes to end debate on the measure, but fell short in the 54-42 party-line vote. Even had the Democratic-led Sen- ate approved the amendment, the meas- ure faced huge obstacles: The GOP, which hates limits on campaign contri- butions and spending, runs the U.S. House, where it would have also needed a two-thirds majority. And it would have needed approval from three-fourths of the states. Republicans control a majority of states. Communications Workers of Amer- ica initiated the drive for the amend- ment, as part of its Democracy Initia- tive. In the first week of September, the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) stepped up to join them. “Corporations are not people and shouldn’t be extended the rights of in- Stories of women in the trades to be presented on stage Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc. (OTI) will present the stage production, “My Walk Has Never Been Average,” Fri- day, Sept. 26, at 7:30 p.m. at the Alberta Rose Theatre, 3000 NE Alberta St., Portland. The play, written by Roberta Hunte and Bonnie Ratner, is based on Hunte’s in-depth interviews with 15 African- American tradeswomen from around the United States as part of her Ph.D. dissertation. It weaves together the sto- ries of their entry into non-traditional trades careers, and touches on the re- curring themes of exclusion from op- portunities, sexual harassment, and lack of institutional support for career de- velopment. Hunte was on staff with OTI as a ca- reer counselor for three years while she was working on her doctorate. OTI is presenting the play as part of its annual Tradeswomen Leadership In- stitute, an educational event that facili- tates leadership development, advocacy skills, and unity among women work- ing in the building, construction, me- chanical and utility trades. In Oregon, women comprise ap- proximately 7 percent of the construc- tion workforce. African-American women comprise only 0.4 percent of construction workers in the state. My Walk Has Never Been Average is directed by Ratner and stars Marilyn Keller, Shelley B Shelley, Angela Bonilla, Sidony O’Neal, Ashley Williams, Skeeter Greene, Aiyanna Cunningham, and Josie Seid. A limited quantity of tickets are available to the general public from The Alberta Rose Theatre box office for $10: www.albertarosetheatre.com. dividuals. This is harming our demo- cratic political process,” CWA said of the court’s rulings that the amendment was designed to overturn. “The Citizens United decision al- lowed the Koch brothers, their corpo- rate allies and the elitist rich to lavish far more money than ever before on po- litical candidates who share their goals of crushing working people,” said ATU President Larry Hanley. “It’s time to curb money in politics and put Amer- ica back in the hands of the people.” More than 550 cities and 16 states sent resolutions to Congress demand- ing lawmakers limit the corporate takeover of U.S. politics by passing the proposed amendment. Petitions with 3 million signatures also went to Con- gress. Senators voted on party lines, with 52 Democrats and both independents voting for it. Democrat Kirsten Gilli- brand of New York was absent. Forty- two Republicans voted against it. It would have been more, but Tom Coburn (Oklahoma), Ted Cruz (Texas) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) were absent. “Americans’ free speech should not be proportionate to their bank accounts. That’s why we introduced the amend- ment to reform our broken campaign fi- nance system,” said its lead sponsors, Sens. Bernie Sanders, (I-Vermont), and Tom Udall (D-New Mexico) (International Standard Serial Number 0894-444X) Established in 1900 at Portland, Oregon as a voice of the labor movement. 4275 NE Halsey St., P.O. Box 13150, Portland, Ore. 97213 Telephone: (503) 288-3311 Editor: Michael Gutwig Staff: Don McIntosh, Cheri Rice Published on a semi-monthly basis on the first and third Fridays of each month by the Oregon Labor Press Publishing Co. Inc., a non- profit corporation owned by 19 unions and councils including the Oregon AFL-CIO. Serving more than 80 union organizations in Ore- gon and SW Washington. Subscriptions $13.75 per year for union members. Group rates available to trade union organizations. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT PORTLAND, OREGON. CHANGE OF ADDRESS NOTICE: Three weeks are required for a change of address. When ordering a change, please give your old and new addresses and the name and number of your local union. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS, P.O. BOX 13150, PORTLAND, OR 97213-0150 PAGE 2 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS SEPTEMBER 19, 2014
