Immigration reform - when?

America badly needs immigration reform.  Our status quo is NOT working.  We have 11 million hard-working people "without paper," undocumented.   We have the potential, often actualized, of abuse of these workers because they fear deportation.  We have an economy crying for low-wage workers and milllions who answer the call, and cannot particpate in our democracy fully and openly.  

Immigration reform has stalled in Washington DC becuase it has become a partisan issue, and the prevailing speed for partisan gridlock is PARK.  Nothing happens.   Perhaps that will change after the 2012 presidential election.  Perhaps.   Obama wants to try again, but it will be safer for members of Congress if they don't have an election looming over them.   Perhaps if a Republican wins, that party will be eager to mend its relations with Hispanic voters. 

Perhaps not.  Here is an ominous report on Candidate Romney's approach - make life so miserable for the undocumented that they 'self-deport."   This is draconian.   what will making life more miserable look like?  here a a few ideas

1. Unable to find a decent job, workers will turn more to those who will exploit them.
2. Unable to find a decent job, workers will turn to crime. 
3. If the crime is not solved, the victim of crime suffers.
4. If the crime is solved, the accused will be deported.  And what of that worker's family?
5. If children cannot attend school, their futures are doomed.
6. If undocumented cannot get medical care, they will be sicker and will die. They'll suffer.  
7. If they cannot get drivers' licenses, they are more likely to drive unsafely. 
8. Women and girls may turn to prostitution, voluntarily or involuntarily.

I don't want my government to impose these outcomes on anyone on our soil.  

I want comprehensive immigration reform.  I expect more from our government than its current inertia.

Peace and justice, y'all

Molly

On our do-nothing Congress

Readers in other lands, excuse me. This is very US-centric.

I am disgusted and outraged at Congress. The partisan gridlock harms the people of the United States and on teh other living things in this nation and really, around the world.

Failure to implement comprehensive immigration reform means families are torn and separated. It means that hardworking souls risk their lives to come here. They die trying to get here. It means that undocumented people can be, and are, exploited by others.

Failure to implement comprehensive reform of our medical compensation system means that only in the US can people go broke because they're sick. And while costs continue to climb, we are getting fatter, sicker, and weaker.

Failure to control costs mean we will pass to our children an intolerable debt, and can someday soon undermine the full faith and credit of these United States. Someday soon we may have to sell off our treasures to pay the bill. What would we sell? Hawaii? The Grand Canyon? Yosemite? Fort Knox?

Failure to address climate change makes the problem harder, if not impossible to fix. And that means climbing costs from catastrophic weather events, and greater impacts to people who can afford it the least, the people who live on coasts in the global South.

Failure to reform mining laws means more miners will die.

Enough griping. I believe as individuals we have power. We have the power to influence others, we have in this nation some really great rights in our First Amendment. We can assemble, petition our government, write to Editor and read anything we want in the press, and we can speak out and we can pray.

I think grass roots action is not one option. It's the best option, especially with the impaired and useless Congress we now have. I think we need to model the behavior we want in our world.

Let's cooperate, even with people with opposing views. We can find common ground if we try.
Let's live gently on the land, and limit our impact on the planet.
Let's stay in touch with our representatives and make sure they know we expect them to work for the common good, not just the interests who contribute to keeping them in office.
Let's share.
Let's help others.
Let's build community, every way we can.

Let's show Congress what democracy looks like on the ground.

Peace, y'all

Molly

Immigration Reform in the US-- where do we start?

My continuing concern about the plight of the fired dairy workers from RubyRidge Dairy in SE Washington brings me to the immigration debate. Comprehensive immigration reform will shine the light of justice into America's darker corners. It is the workers' undocumented status that lets owners to exploit their workers.

Here is a website that shatters a few myths about immigrants in the US. Www.tinyurl.com/imm-myths.

Please share this, especially readers in the USA.

Peace, y'all

Molly

Stuffed and Starved

Yesterday I finished reading Raj Patel's "Stuffed and Starved." Enlightening, showing how all the dots connect to food, poverty, and power on our planet. Raj is not American, and I truly valued the perspective of America's role in the world. Sobering.

The fear of the restless masses destabilizing governments and threatening the bottom line for businesses has made the poor poorer and the rich richer. The poor grow our food, the rich profit from their labors. On the receiving end, the poor cannot afford good healthy food. Instead they are subjected to subsidized, processed crap, cheap carbs, high fructose corn syrup, soy, etc. So as this unhealthy diet spreads, so does diabetes and heart disease.

There are so many things wrong with this picture it would, and did, fill a book. Raj Patel's to be precise.

His prescription is a blend of what I'm starting to do already (locavorism, eating lower on the food chain, CSA, fair trade...), which are personal actions, and the group actions that are so much more challenging-- using those wonderful rights in the USA's First Amendment

Speech
Press
Religion
Assembly
Petitioning the government.

My birthday gift to USA is to flex these rights. That which we exercise gets stronger.

Peace, y'all

Molly

Is the Federal budget a reflection of our country's moral values?

So claims the Friends Committee for National Legislation, a fine Quaker lobbying group. So also claims Matthew in the Gospel: For where your treasure is, they will your heart be also (Matthew 6:21

But the cynic in me (small but still present) says them who have the gold make the rules, and that fits our budget picture more clearly.

For each dollar of federal income tax we paid in 2009, our government spent
33 cents on Pentagon spending for current and past wars (3 cents on veterans, 6 cents on interest on debts, 24 cents on Pentagon and related spending.
27 cents supporting the economy -- recovery and bailouts, 26 cents, other jobs, education and social programs, 1cent.
17 cents on health care, mainl Medicare, I suppose
11 cents responding to poverty
9 cents for general government
2 cents for energy, science, and the environment
1 cent for diplomacy, development, and war prevention

FCNL says if these expenditures don't reflect your values, talk to Congress. Good idea. Also talk to your family and friends, your neighbors, your Facebook community, anyone you can.

FCNL makes it easy to reach your reps in Congress. Visit www.fcnl.org, follow the "contact Congress" link, and there you go!

Honest to goodness, it is so much cheaper to prevent a war than to wage one and pay one off decades later. But there's profit in war and not so much for working on making lives better for the multitudes of poor and disenfranchised.

Okay, I'm going to silence the cynic, who is rarely constructive, and bring back cheerier outlook.

Peace, y'all

Molly

update on the Ruby Ridge workers

Darigold is trying to resolve the issues of the fired workers from the Ruby Ridge dairy,(the Darigold Dozen), who were fired after trying to form a union. The workers have a suit for violation of state rules for employment and federal laws against discrimination. Hooray for Darigold for trying to find resolution.

Darigold is in this because Ruby Ridge dairy is a Darigold coop member. I don't know what happens at other dairies in my area but think I will find out, and share. I hope dairy users will buy from dairies whose workers and cows are treated with respect and care.

The fired Ruby Ridge workers are anxious and need your moral and financial support.

peace, y'all

Molly

The rally for Ruby Ridge fired, the Darigold Dozen

I was born in the 20th century and reached maturity then too. A recent college grad, born also in the 20th century but reaching adult in the 21st, referred to me as "20th century" when commenting on my lack of skills with technology. Well, I try. If a tool appears to have value to me, I learn it. For instance, I had no interest in texting until I learned my daughter would respond to me promptly when I do. So now I text to keep in touch with my kid.

All this is prelude for the fact that 1) I am going to post pictures from the rally for the Ruby Ridge fired workers, the Darigold Dozen, the brave men who stood up for their rights as workers and were fired thereafter for other reasons, the owners allege. RIGHT. Just coincidental, is it, that all of the fired workers were the ones leading the unionizing effort?

and 2), to find other blogs relating to workers, union rights, immigration issues, dairy workers, and human rights and put my 2 cents in there. I am not fluent in Spanish so I will do what I can in English for these men and all the other workers who will benefit if these guys succeed.

If you have ideas to help these workers, please pass them along (and do them as well!)

Peace, y'all

Molly