Personal message from your current Vice-Chair…

Yes, the Equal Rights Amendment has outlived Phyllis Schlafly and has been officially ratified by 38 states with Virginia’s ratification. Of course, there will be court challenges now about the time it took since when passed by Congress in 1972, a time limit was put on it. Never-mind that the US Constitution requires no time limit.

This is a strange victory for me personally. The ERA was my first taste of working in the political system. In the 1980’s I became active in Illinois to ratify (I grew up there). This is an amendment that had things stacked against it. The Illinois Senate and House required a 3/5ths super majority to ratify (only for this amendment); it always had a simple majority. Phyllis Schlafly organized against it claiming that it would require unisex bathrooms, women in the military, no spousal benefits from Social Security.

Schlafly stopped the ERA by pitting women against each other. Think about that.

Sound familiar with what is happening today? Super majorities to pass legislation? Democrats being pitted against each other? Again, think about it. We don’t want and we can’t afford failure in 2020.

By the way, Oregon ratified the ERA in 1972. Oregon has the ERA in its own state constitution, passed in 2013.

Here is more about today’s passage in Virginia.

More about time limits on amendments… interesting.

This week, a sitting President of the United States of America was forced to pay out over $2 million to charities.

Why? Because Trump eventually admitted he had used veteran fundraiser money to buy a portrait of himself for his hotel.

Read More…

Current actions by the Republican Secretary of State illustrate the importance of electing a law abiding candidate come 2020.

As Oregonians, we take pride in our election system. We lead the country in voter access and holding safe, secure elections. Unfortunately, all that is being threatened by Oregon’s Republican Secretary of State, Bev Clarno.
One of the Democratic leaders, Representative Tiffiny Mitchell of Oregon’s North Coast, is being threatened with an outrageous recall effort.

She didn’t break the law or abuse her power. Instead, climate-deniers are collecting signatures to remove her from office simply for delivering on her promise that she would vote to take bold action on climate change in 2019. Recall proponents know that they can’t win on the merits of their argument, and that’s why they’re now accused of violating four different election laws in their efforts to recall Rep. Mitchell.

But instead of holding them accountable, Republican Secretary of State Bev Clarno is turning a blind eye.

Despite multiple formal complaints and nearly two months of waiting, Secretary Clarno’s office has failed to take any investigatory action.

There are fewer than two weeks until signatures are due, and if the Secretary’s office runs out the clock and fails to act before December 4, there could be dire consequences:

• Illegal and false statements about Rep. Mitchell’s voting record could be printed on the ballot that is sent to voters in a recall election.
• Signatures gathered under false pretenses, including from voters who don’t even live in Rep. Mitchell’s district, could be counted toward the recall.
• If election and signature gathering fraud succeeds in our elections system, it could set off a string of reckless recall efforts around the state.

Secretary Clarno is giving preference to the recall effort and hoping that no one will notice if she just doesn’t investigate.

At a time when it’s already hard enough to tell fact from fiction in politics, we need to know that our elections administrator will enforce the law, call out fraud, and decline to print falsehoods on our ballots. At the very least, she should not be putting her finger on the scales in favor of right-wing extremists.

Do you agree? If so, please take minute to sign our message to Secretary Clarno and urge her to expedite her investigation.

Organized by Rogue Indivisible

When: 5:30 pm on the eve of the impeachment vote
Where: Josephine County Courthouse
Bring: A flashlight to light the night! Bring flags, signs, friends and your unbridled enthusiasm!

At 5:30 pm on the eve of Trump’s impeachment vote (whenever that may be), at least 300 groups including from around our nation, including Indivisible and MoveOn.org, will hold events asking our Members of Congress to Impeach & Remove our incompetent, corrupt, and criminal President. Nobody Is Above the Law. That’s why we’re calling on Congress to Impeach & Remove Donald Trump.

By choosing to attend this event, you are committing to participate nonviolently and in accordance with the law, to work to de-escalate confrontations with others, and to obey the orders of authorized event marshals and of law enforcement. You also acknowledge that you are solely responsible for any injury or damage to your person or property resulting from or occurring during this event and that you release all event sponsors and organizers (and their officers, directors, employees, and agents) from any liability for that injury or damage. We disavow all who advocate violence as a solution to our Nation’s present crisis.

Please RSVP for the event to make sure you get updates on the event from the host.

News from the Rural Organizing Project

The Secretary of State has disqualified IP43, the initiative petition that was an attempt to overturn  the Driver’s Licenses for All bill (also known as HB 2015, The Equal Access to Roads Act) that passed the Oregon legislature earlier this year!

Driver’s Licenses For All was passed last year in the Oregon legislature. The opposition, spearheaded by two petitioners, submitted enough signatures to qualify to receive a ballot title so that they could be certified to collect signatures to place their measure on the ballot. But, the Secretary of State has determined that their measure does not meet constitutional requirements and cannot move forward!

Here is more information from the ROP website: