Week in Review

ANOTHER WEEK OF A SPECIAL INTEREST GOP-ADMINISTRATION

The numbers don't lie - Americans are increasingly frustrated with the continued failure of leadership of Republicans in Congress and the Bush administration. One need only look at the numerous recent polling reports to see that Americans of all genders, races and regions are frustrated with a GOP agenda that ignores the values, needs and priorities of most Americans. Recent actions by Bush and the Republican Congress explain why the public feels as it does.

In the last few weeks alone, the Republican Congress passed a bill to criminalize family members who assist girls with health care choices, the President used his first veto to reject additional stem cell research funding that could save millions of Americans, and House Republicans used the urgent need for a minimum wage increase as leverage to push through still more tax breaks for the nation's multi-millionaires.

According to a recent National Public Radio (NPR) poll of residents in competitive House race districts, a majority of respondents believe Democrats would do a better job on social values issues such as stem cell research, flag-burning, and gay marriage, compared to just 37% who give Republicans the edge. [NPR, 7/27/06].

The priorities and choices of Congressional Republicans and President Bush provide abundant reason for voters' displeasure. Displaying his veto pen for the first time in his Administration, President Bush vetoed legislation to provide funding and approval to increase the number of stem cell lines available for life-saving research. With this veto, President Bush appeased his special interest base, but ignored the vote of large majorities in both houses of Congress and more importantly the opinion of the majority of Americans who believe it's time to expand our research in this potentially life-saving area. Rep. Diana Degette (D-CO) delivered last week's Democratic Radio Address on the issue.

Instead of focusing on rising gas prices or foreign affairs, the GOP pushed through the so-called "Child Custody Protection Act", which makes it a felony for family members -- even grandparents -- other than parents to take girls across state lines to circumvent laws requiring parental consent to abortions. Democrats attempted to work with the legislation to incorporate realistic changes to protect abuse victims and their confidants and attack the roots of the problem by talking about medically-based sex education. But the GOP did what they do best - play politics with a delicate issue to appeal to their base. "If we do nothing about teen pregnancy yet pass this punitive bill, then it proves that this is only a political charade and not a serious effort to combat the problem," said Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), who sponsored the amendment.

Adding insult to injury, the Republican House used the urgent need for a minimum wage increase as leverage to pass a whopping new tax break for multi-millionaires just before adjourning for a five-week vacation. Did you know, 10 years ago President Bill Clinton signed the nation's last minimum wage increase? Since then, the rate has stood at $5.15 an hour--$5,000 less than the poverty level for a family of three.

House Republicans have aggressively blocked a vote on an increase until last week, when they agreed to go along with an increase to $7.25, phased in over 3 years, but tied the increase to permanent repeal of the estate tax for households with multi-millions in assets. The minimum wage increase would benefit almost 7 million people, boosting the earnings of full-time minimum wage earners by around $1200 annually. On the other hand, the estate tax break would benefit only 8,200 folks, to the tune of an average of $1.3 million each. Senate Democrats have demanded a clean up or down vote on raising the minimum wage and have vowed to block this fiscally irresponsible tax break.

SHARP EDGES REMAIN ON THAT GLASS CEILING

This month, women will celebrate the 19th Amendment to the Constitution that allowed voting rights for women. August 26th, dubbed 'Women's Equality Day,' not only commemorates the passage of the 19th Amendment, but reminds us of our continuing efforts toward full equality. This month the Week in Review will take a look at several issues of women's equality. This week: Equal Pay for Equal Work!

A recent Career Builder.com survey featured last week in the Washington Post found that over a third of women say they are paid less than male counterparts with similar experience and qualifications, up from 31% in the same survey in 2003. 27% said they attributed the pay gap with having less ability to network with upper management outside of the office while 21% said their employer showed favoritism to the opposite sex. On the flip side, respondents reported companies are actively recruiting more women and are revamping human resources practices to ensure equal compensation for all employees with similar duties. Want to learn more about the issue of Pay Equity? Several independent organizations have great resources on the issue including the National Women's Law Center (NWLC) and the National Committee on Pay Equity.

VOTING RIGHTS ACT RENEWED ... WITH GOP KICKING AND SCREAMING

After a series of delays imposed by conservative Republicans, Congress has approved the important renewal of the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act (VRA).

Although some provisions of the Voting Rights Act are permanent, several sections require periodic renewal, and achieving bi-partisan consensus to renew them was not as easy task. Along the way, Republican leaders fought to end the protections for federal review of election law changes in states with a history of voter disenfranchisement and for the provision of language assistance (bi-lingual ballots) in areas with large populations of voters with limited English proficiency. Democrats fought daily to insure these voter protections were preserved.

DEMOCRATS TAKING THE LEAD

MORE WOMEN SECURE DEMOCRATIC NOMINATIONS!

In the last edition of the Week in Review, we shared a listing of women candidates who have secured Federal and Statewide Democratic Nominations. With the occurrence of recent primaries in Georgia, Kansas and Oklahoma, we're adding to that list! Look for a complete list of women Democratic nominees running for Federal and Statewide office in late-September, following the September 28th primaries.

Visit their websites, support their candidacies, and share their stories with your friends and family!

	U.S. House
KS - 2	Nancy Boyda (D)
OK - 3	Sue Barton (D)

	State Offices
GA	Sup. Public Instruction	Denise Majette (D)
GA	Public Service Comm-05	Dawn Randolph (D)
KS	Governor	Kathleen Sebelius (D)*
KS	Insurance Commissioner	Bonnie Sharp (D)
OK	Insurance Commissioner	Kim Holland (D)*
OK	Sup. Public Instruction	Sandy Garrett (D)*

DNC RULES AND BYLAWS UPDATE

The DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee has voted to adopt changes to the 2008 Presidential nomination schedule, adding two states to the pre-primary schedule. Under the proposed plan, the state of Nevada could hold a caucus (following the Iowa caucus) and the state of South Carolina could hold a primary (following New Hampshire) in the 'pre-window primary' period. The 'regular' primary window would open February 5th. The proposal states Iowa will remain the first caucus in the pre-window period and New Hampshire will remain the first primary. The proposal now moves to the full DNC membership, which will vote on the proposal at their meeting August 18th in Chicago, IL.

Governor Howard Dean, in his support for the change, acknowledged the importance of broadening participation in the nomination process to better reflect the rich racial, regional, and economic diversity of the Democratic Party and ensure that our Party produces the strongest possible nominee.

DEMOCRATS UNITED ACROSS AMERICA

20,000 DEMOCRATS TAKE PART IN "DEMOCRATIC REUNIONS"

Democrats across the country marked 100 days to Election Day by gathering July 29th to offer a new direction for America and to organize, energize, and motivate voters at 843 "Democratic Reunion" national organizing events coordinated by the Democratic National Committee. The organizing day was an enormous success with over 20,000 Democrats pledging to maintain contact with two million voters between now and Election Day to help ensure victories for Democrats up and down the ballot in every state. On July 29th alone, volunteers distributed two million pieces of literature with the Democratic message for a new direction, including bilingual pieces in English and one of four languages including Spanish, Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese.

Our momentum is growing, across the country Democrats are energized and ready to work hard between now and Election Day to ensure Democratic victories. Democrats believe that America should work for everyone, hard work should be respected, and health care, college and a secure retirement should be within every American's reach. Voters are responding to the Democratic message for change because they believe Democrats share their priorities and will do a better job leading our nation.

The "Democratic Reunion" was the latest in a series of DNC sponsored voter contact events that built on the success of the April 29th organizing day when 10,000 Democrats participated. Events took place in every state and in 267 congressional districts - including 80 percent of the 50 most closely watched Congressional races.

100ACTIONS.COM

Check out the recently launched 100actions.com, a website dedicated to helping Democrats from across the country get involved in the November elections. In an effort to support Democrats up and down the ballot, the website provides a new daily action through Election Day and provides resources focused on empowering every American with the tools they need to become involved with the Democratic Party. The site also connects people wanting to volunteer with local campaigns through their state parties or coordinated campaigns as a way to provide the people-power that's vital to effective get-out-the-vote efforts in November.