7vfx3

Eleanor’s Hope logoOct. 11, 2014 – A new national initiative, Eleanor’s Hope, to help bring an end to the disparity between men’s and women’s income, health and retirement security, was launched this week by The National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare. A “press call” announcement included Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Congresswoman Gwen Moore (D-WI), NOW President Terry O’Neill and Tufts Health Plan President/CEO, James Roosevelt, Jr. “Women have a lot at stake in November’s election and beyond,” said Max Richtman, NCPSSM President/CEO.

“Through grassroots advocacy and education in our communities and on Capitol Hill, the Eleanor’s Hope project will raise awareness, recruit and train new activists, highlight female leaders who are making a difference and generate national interest in women’s health and retirement security issues leading up to the 2014 and 2016 elections.”

The National Committee will also hold a Congressional staff briefing, Tuesday, October 14, on the issues and policy prescriptions needed to address the income inequality, retirement insecurity and health inequities facing women. Then on October 15,  representatives of the initiative will join members of the nation’s only all-female Congressional delegation in New Hampshire to talk about the “Eleanor’s Hope” initiative.

Attorney General Eric Holder made his resignation official yesterday at an emotional press conference in which he thanked his family for their support and expressed gratitude for having had the chance to serve under President Obama. Now the task of choosing a new AG begins. And with the bottomless partisanship in Washington, it will be contentious.

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation were saddened by the news, but also concerned about what it could mean for the civil rights work that Holder had been so active in.

“He’s been a real asset to this fight for people who didn’t necessarily get a fair chance in this justice system,” Rep. Donald Payne Jr. (D-N.J.) told The Root.

In a statement we received from Wisconsin Congresswoman Gwen Moore, she says, “The resignation of Attorney General Eric Holder is a great loss for our country. As one of the Obama Administration’s leading progressive voices, Attorney General Holder led the charge in support of same-sex marriage, protecting our voting rights, and addressing the inequities in our criminal justice system. As the first African-American to serve as Attorney General, his honorable legacy of justice is nothing less than historic.”

Congresswoman Gwen Moore has no fear of Scott Walker. She beat the governor in his first campaign — for the state Legislature in 1990.

But Moore does fear the confusion and potential voter disenfranchisement that could result from a haphazard and ill-planned implementation of the state’s voter ID law.

That is why she has called on the Government Accountability Board to wait until after the November election to begin implementing the controversial rules requiring an approved photo ID in order to vote.

Moore is right to propose the delay.

The voter ID law that was enacted by Republican legislators and signed by Walker was blocked by Federal Judge Lynn Adelman, who sits in Milwaukee, because it discriminates disproportionately against seniors, students and people of color. Adelman’s ruling, which was hailed by legal experts from across the country, should have settled it.

MILWAUKEE –  President Barack Obama has arrived in Milwaukee, where he was greeted at the airport by Gov. Scott Walker and others. A pool report says Obama landed Monday at 1 p.m. He greeted the governor, who’s a Republican, and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, a Democrat. He also hugged Democratic U.S. Congresswoman Gwen Moore. Obama

A new poll on the public view of police says most Americans don’t believe police treat races equally. Rev. Al Sharpton has Dr. Cedric Alexander and Rep. Gwen Moore on to discuss the study’s findings.

OAK CREEK – Lieutenant Brian Murphy and Officer Sam Lenda received several standing ovations during a ceremony at the Oak Creek Community Center on Wednesday.  They are credited with ending the attack on the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin just six minutes after the first 911 call.

“I think all of us remember where we were on August 5, 2012,” said Oak Creek Mayor Steve Scaffidi.

Murphy and Lenda received the Law Enforcement Congressional Badge of Bravery.

“I simply want to thank these two men and our law enforcement personnel who do this to keep us safe,” said Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI).

The attacker shot Murphy more than a dozen times.

Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) joined Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) to introduce the Domestic Violence Gun Homicide Prevention Act of 2014, legislation that would encourage states to remove firearms from domestic abusers.

The senators presented their bill at a press conference where they were joined by Merry Jackson, whose daughter Lori Jackson was shot and killed this year by her estranged husband, who was under a temporary restraining order at the time. Kaine shared the story of Deborah Wigg, a Virginia Beach resident who was tragically shot and killed in 2011 by her separated husband, who, despite being arrested and issued a restraining order for domestic violence against Deborah, never had his gun confiscated as federal law requires.

“I’m proud to help introduce the Domestic Violence Gun Homicide Prevention Act of 2014 in the Senate,” said Kaine. “Domestic violence fatalities are far too common in Virginia, and they are often at the hands of gun violence. By focusing on individuals already subject to a temporary or domestic violence restraining order, this commonsense legislation provides critical protection to abuse victims, especially women, who are five times more likely to be killed by their domestic abuser if the abuser owns a gun.”

Mayor Tom Barrett went to bed Friday knowing he would spend Saturday speaking with a community exhausted by gun violence. He hoped against hope that the topic of his speech wouldn’t be selected for him as the night unfolded.

But it was.

It was contained in a text message on his phone. Two men shot, one fatally, shortly before midnight in a car in the 5100 block of W. Lisbon Ave.

The only thing really surprising about the message, Barrett said, was the ethnicity of the men shot: Asian.

The vast majority of the people who are shot and killed in Milwaukee are black males.

“What we are witnessing, right now, is the annihilation of black males in this city,” Barrett told more than 100 people who attended the forum, “Misery in Our Midst — Gun Violence,” at the African American Women’s Center.

MILWAUKEE (WITI) — Some big name politicians meeting to try to find a way to stop the violence — there’s one easy step, start talking about it!

Just days ago we saw the latest incidence of young children caught in the crossfire of gun violence. Now, some of the city’s most powerful politicians are pooling ideas on how to make it stop.

Crime scenes and headlines of children caught int he crossfire, are sadly prompting calls like this summer.

“Repeat the chant after me, say I will not let the babies die young,” says one attendee.

The city’s most powerful are echoing that theme and doing their best to raise the community to its feet, in hopes of stomping out the shootings.

Wary Democrats approach new Paul Ryan poverty plan with caution Read More »