Social Issues

Payroll Debit Cards - Less Choice, Lower Wages

October 5, 2011 by Calitics

by Angie Wei, California Labor Federation

Bank of America's new $5 monthly debit fee, unveiled Friday, sparked howls of protest from furious bank customers now threatening to walk away to more consumer-friendly banking options. No one knows exactly how many will follow through on the threat, but according to one poll, a $5 monthly fee will drive 66% of debit users towards alternative methods of payment—cash, credit cards, or “other.” Agree or disagree with the 66%, but at least everyone can agree that it’s good consumers can freely decide to spend however they want and bank wherever they choose, right? Wrong.

Thanks to unaffordable fees, credit checks and other obstacles, big banks have shut out about a million California households from access to any banking services whatsoever. These “unbanked” workers, unable to receive direct deposit, have in recent years found employers replacing paper paychecks with mysterious “payroll debit” cards—electronic cards that charge massive fees only a banking lobbyist could love. Employers issue cards directly to workers, wages are loaded onto an account managed by the bank, and every payday, the nickel and diming begins anew.

First Arrest Under Alabama's New Immigration Law Is... LEGAL

October 5, 2011 by Left in Alabama

Whoopsie!

Before I begin...  My Firefox crashed last night, and I lost several good links to the below information, so please excuse the lack of them.  If I can dig them back up, I will be happy to edit this later.

Ettowah County police had a drug raid over the weekend looking for "spice" and "bath salts".  (Don't get me started on that one.)  There were three men involved.  Two were able to produce their documentation immediately, proving they were here legally.  The third apparently left his wallet at home.  So the cops took him in on obstruction of justice and waited the weekend to see if he could produce his papers.

What happened next is too good for anyone opposing the new law to make up.

ABQ Animal Welfare Desperately Needs Homes for Cats: Can You Help?

October 5, 2011 by Democracy for N...

ABBY - ID#A1627961

Please help spread the word about a desperate situation that has developed at The Cattery at the Albuquerque Animal Welfare shelter. The Cattery is facing a much larger population of cats than it can possibly deal with. I've gotten several emails about this, and local news programs have reportedly ignored requests to air this message. The shelter simply cannot handle any more cats, and needs additional support from the community. Please do what you can:

The Inn is Full
The Cattery at the Albuquerque Animal Welfare Department is nearly full. Last weekend they received 121 cats. Animal Welfare’s ability to house and care for such a large number of cats is approaching capacity, and they are in need of assistance.

Greetings from the new 24th Congressional District

October 5, 2011 by Calitics

By Rep. Lois Capps

Dear Calitics community:

After following your smart takes on California and national politics, I thought it was time I joined the conversation.   Here's my first post -- an update on my congressional campaign.

First, thank you for many years of support.  Without the help of grassroots activists, I never would have been elected to Congress.  And I never would have been able to write the Nurse Reinvestment Act to address our nationwide nursing shortage, help get Health Insurance Reform enacted, protect our coastline from more offshore drilling, vote against the Iraq war, stand up for a woman's right to choose and provide more opportunity for the middle class.  I'm proud of my record and can keep going, but my message today is about politics.

This election is different.

There has been a lot of discussion here about the redistricting commission and their new maps.

The new, final map makes my 24th district the toughest Democratic seat to defend in California.  No other congressional district has lost as many registered Democrats as mine. For the past ten years, my district had an 18% Democratic registration advantage.  Now the seat has only 3% more Democrats than Republicans.

Dollars, sense and the new American Resistance

October 5, 2011 by Kenneth

(Cross-posted at Saint Petersblog & Daily Kos)

 

“There’s something happening here

What it is ain’t exactly clear…”

Steven Stills wrote those opening lines of Buffalo Springfield’s classic protest song, “”, in 1966. It wasn’t just the Vietnam War tearing America apart at the time. It was the struggle for Civil Rights, Women’s Rights, and some measure of socioeconomic stability for America’s millions of poor, elderly and disabled citizens.

It’s no accident that the social unrest and political activism marking those years was accompanied by historic enactment of the Civil Rights Act, Medicare and Medicaid, by a Democratic Congress and President, Lyndon Baines Johnson, who even declared ”War On Poverty” in 1964.