Victory

Chief Justice John G. Roberts and Associate Justices Scalia, Thomas, Alito and Kennedy have done their jobs and overturned the ridiculous Sotomayor and Co. authored decision (upholding the initial decision by Judge Arterton) that prevented Frank Ricci and 18 others from being promoted in the city of New Haven’s fire department.

However, how could Ginsburg, Breyer, Stevens and Souter dissent to so clear and lucid a case? I am saddened by the politicization of the U.S. Supreme Court. This was not a liberal or conservative issue, neither was it one of “Living Constitution” theory vs. strict constructionism.

As the Chief Justice said, the best way to end racial discrimination is to end racial discrimination. Congratulations to Frank Ricci and his fellow litigants and hats off to the Supreme Court justices who upheld the Constitution and its principle of equal protection under the laws.

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Free Public Pool

This weekend, Dawn and I went to the East Potomac Park, which is located south of the Jefferson Memorial. We took the metro (which was a bad idea) to get there. We got off at L’Enfant and struggled to get to the park. We got lost, of course, and went around in circles for a while. Thanks to Google Map, we finally got to the pool after an hour of confusion. The pool was very nice. The weather was also perfect. From the pool, I saw the National Monument and Jefferson Memorial. I attempted to swim and enjoyed reading David Sedaris under the sun. Afterwards, Dawn and I just decided to walk back to Foggy Bottom (which was a good idea). It only took us 30-40 minutes to walk back. Plus, we walked along the Potomac River and took pictures. Towards the night, we went out to Georgetown and just walked around and went to different shops. Bubble Tea at Snap was really good. D.C. is turning out to be fun, only if I don’t get lost.

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100+ Calls

Sitting in an office doing almost nothing but moving my eyes and fingers in front of a computer ironically tires me out. One needs to be able to speak from time to time. I could walk over to my co-workers’ offices, chat, and see what they are up to, but that means I am not being productive.

Midway into the day my supervisor walks into my office (usually I have a co-worker sharing the room with me, but he wasn’t in today–very lonely) and, essentially, tells me to drop what I am doing and make phone calls. Not just any phone calls, but more like lobbying. My task? Find out the legislative aide for health care of each house representative–all 441. Why should I be making 441 calls (it’s actually much less because we found some of them earlier last week)? For the first time, I have reaped the merits of being a Rosenberg Humphrey intern at work. In order for a nonprofit organization (aka 501c3 in the tax books) to be named so on tax records, it must keep its lobbying efforts within the limits set by the books, otherwise it is considered a 501c4, a lobbying organization. That means each employee is allotted a specific number of hours to lobby each year–I think it’s about 10 hours. These hours are precious as NCCS could use the time to convince more H.R.’s to sign on to the CCCIA bill (Comprehensive Cancer Care Improvement Act), instead of spending time figuring out who the health LA’s of 441 representatives are. Solution? Find someone off of their payroll. Like a Rosenberg Humphrey intern. Like me, Evan. The bill is at the top of the agenda for the NCCS board of directors. We needed to shake a leg–so they shook mine.

For the rest of the afternoon from about 2pm to 5:30pm, I was calling the almost too many House Representatives asking the same thing–can you tell me who the legislative aide for health care is?–and then inputting the names and emails into a spreadsheet. I was talking to a Hill intern each time. Tedious? Not one bit. I was getting pretty tired of what I have been doing initially, drafting plans for community events, which is now temporarily put on hold for these calls.

Hearing myself speak in my office was magical–I could hear my voice box!

I was entertaining myself over how many different ways I could say farewell to the staffers on the other end of the line after they gave me the information I needed. ‘Have a great day.’ ‘Have a good day.’ ‘Have a wonderful day.’ ‘Have a good rest of the day’. ‘Have a good evening.’ ‘Enjoy your evening.’ ‘Enjoy the rest of your evening.’ ‘Take care.’ ‘You take care now.’ ‘Thank you, and you too.’

I helped myself to the large plate of phone numbers belonging to different states. I was in California for too long to no surprise, but happy to hop around at times to other states randomly. New York! Hawaii!! Guam!!! Soon, reality kicked in when I noticed the repetition of 202-225- part of the phone numbers–they were all Washington offices. No worries, I picked this little fact up after calling Alabama district no. 2.

I pleasured myself over the various attempts at customer service of the staffers on the other line when I asked who was the representative’s health LA.

“Umm…” started one girl, “I know who it is! That would be….” She was the funniest. Pat on her back for making my day.

“Thank you for calling the office of Congressman…of District … This is…speaking, how may I help you?” I asked. She answered, and added, “Thank you for calling.” Now, that’s good service.

Then, there was this one guy who was helping me to spell out a name, while patronizing me.
“That would be S-A…”, he started. “Was that S as in Sam”? “Yeah….” He elongated the ‘yeah’. Geez, speak up next time.

Another guy answered me with, “That person would be….” and then added, “She’s the chief of staff, so….” So…? So what was the point of saying “so”? I didn’t take it personally, but for the very sensitive, adding that “so” at the end could be asking for trouble.

There was also this one girl whose voice was hoarse. I barely made out the name. Being the nice person I was, I took down as many letters as I could and, after hanging up, took the liberty to search  for the rest of the name through google. I had only missed one letter. It goes to show you how good my sleuthing skills have become. Poor girl. She should have taken the day off.

After making about 100+ calls, I feel like I have become a new person! Ha, no, not really, but at least a more refreshed employee. It was just the task I needed today to keep the job interesting.
I have over 300 calls to make tomorrow. I am a lobbyist! …a pre-pre junior one off the books at best. Let’s add that to my resume!

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Embarrassment…Do we really need a 7th “emergency” session?

So, as many of you already know the NYS senate has been arguing like a bunch of 3 year olds’ over a sandbox.  This has the hot topic in my office for the last week. We always make sure we tune in to NY1 to watch the bloodbath between our elected officials.  Originally Governor Paterson felt that he could use his authority to force the parties to reach an accommodation and stop all of this foolishness that has prevented our 62 senators from getting any work done! Just like every other public policy issues before our state legislature ( Sales tax, NYC school system, energy, and everything else under the sun) same sex marriage has just been dumped into the same stalemate pile until the senate can decide who will control the chamber.

On a personal note… I did not march in Sunday’s Pride parade, but the council woman and some of the other office staff were present.  Also, NYC council speaker Christine C. Quinn was present alongside her long time partner, Kim Catullo.  Even Mayor Bloomberg is clearly frustrated by the senate stalemate and so am I. You would think that as elected officials they would know better to not put all of their business out on “Front Street”.  I personally feel embarrassed by what is taking place.  I think that our 62 senators really need to get their act together and they need to do it fast. I’m tired of all the scandals and confessions…like seriously HELLO do these senators pay attention? CHANGE has come, everyone is under a microscope! You are being watched! Get your act together before you publicly humiliate both your self and your family also i.e. senator from S.C.

Furthermore…I learned how to input council sat on Friday! It helps to input everything into a data base so that we are not constantly shuffling through paperwork. I visited a senior center on Thursday along side another coworker. We held a raffle with donated gifts from the council woman (btw seniors are vicious).  I went paint balling with CCNY extreme goers on saturday and it was awesome! On this lovely Monday there is a luncheon, but office staff can’t go (whomp whomp).

-Danielle K.

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The rest of my week has been quiet and eventless. I did some research for some grant prospect, wrote a few support letters and donation requests.

I just came back from Midtown Manhattan where the summer street fairs are in full swing. Despite some sporadic showers, the weather is totally accomodating. On my way back, I stopped at the City College Library for some books I needed to keep expanding on my senior thesis…Yeah, that’s usually my weekend routine, trying to keep up with all the necessary readings…. And the Library was closed!!!! But at least the sun is shining and the humidity is low What could be better than that?!

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New Ideas

The grand question that has reoccurred to me at this point of my internship is what is the most important thing that I can do for my organization? Fortunately, my supervisor, in spite of how busy she is, manages to touch base and we’ll talk for hours like we did today on this very topic. I have been coming up with a detailed procedure for ways that the community could become more involved in raising awareness and funds for NCCS. We call it “community packages.” I think we can say that this is my largest project so far. We really want to connect more to the people in the community, especially because NCCS is a NATIONAL coalition. Up until now, as I understand it, NCCS has been recruiting people to engage in the democratic process and advocate for quality cancer care. However, not everyone has that comfort level to “advocate”, at least not yet. Suggesting new ways–simpler ways–for people to get involved with NCCS is naturally the best approach to engage the community before asking them to partake in efforts on a policy level. Besides this, I have also been researching local venues that could potentially donate to NCCS, attending meetings on health care, and calling offices in DC to identify who the legislative aide for health care is for each state (this afternoon, I began with the Florida, Pennsylvania, and Texas reps). With all that I am doing, it’s easy to lose sight of what it’s amounting to. I definitely needed an idea of where my place was in the organization. Defining my role in the organization will best help me to figure out how to shape my tasks toward serving the organization. So, what’s my job? My supervisor told me, “New Ideas”. She acknowledged that having someone like me–an outsider–who comes in without the institutional knowledge is vital to help it push through its current organizational restructuring and further its mission. My reaction? I’m the new kid on the block who is invited to observe and make suggestions. Me make suggestions on how a national coalition should move forward? Let’s see where I can go with this.

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Reading

Hola.

So nothing exciting going on at work so I’m going to talk about my extracurricular activity of the moment: reading. When I was younger I was an avid reader; but that all changed when required reading and book reports became mandatory. Yes, I will admit that there were books I read that enjoyed, but at the same time there were books I loathed. Instead of my leisurely reading that I used to do so much of, I now found myself reading books on summer reading lists and for classes.

The summer before sophomore year I picked up The Autobiography of Malcom X while doing my shopping for school books. Now, June 2009 I finished the book. Yes, there were the times where I could have finished the book but I was so fatigued with all of the stuff I had to read for school. I’m glad I finally finished, because I did enjoy his journey. I also finished Dead Aid by Dambiso Moyo (anyone studying African Development should read it for a different perspective). Additionally, I read The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch and Native Son by Richard Wright. All of this occurred within 3 weeks.

What am I reading now? I bet your dying to know. I am currently reading The Green Belt Movement by Wangari Maathai, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and former Minster of the Environment in Kenya. Google her to learn more.

Border’s, as I may have mentioned, is one of my favorite places to go. As of Monday, every time I go to Border’s I will read Persepolis, a comic based on the life of the author (Marjane Satrapi) growing up during the Islamic Revolution in Iran. It’s pretty good, I should finish if I go back this weekend. It’s a quick read.

What’s next on the list? Africa Unchained by George Ayittey and the Challenge for Africa by Wangari Maathai. I traded in William Easterly and Jeffrey Sachs to get these books. Sachs I started reading, and wasn’t feeling. But I will definitely hear more about the latter two in development classes, so for now I want a more African perspective on development matters in Africa. I met George Ayittey once, he’s very passionate about Africa. I can’t wait to read his book.
That’s all for now. Peace!

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Insanity

Yesterday I took a trip to the Rayburn Building that has the offices of the members of the house of representatives. I was handing out a press release from the National Center based on a poll carried out by some organization.

Basically, the poll maintained that a large section of the African-American community considered economic stability a priority over climate legislation. Thus my task (and my colleagues who went to the nearby buildings) was to get this information to members of the Black Congressional Caucus.

My hopes are very slim. I’m hoping that Conyers, Rangel and the rest have had a chance to read it and halt the insanity that is the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill. I know a few of the Black congressmen will vote for it anyway but I hope the rest will sober up and think very hard about this crucial vote.

The up-coming legislative agenda is very serious. America has to consider this new cap-and-trade energy economy, a new health care system and the effects of the bail-outs and stimulus package, while dealing with a mortgage crisis, recession, two wars and a crackpot Kim Jong-il. This is excluding an education crisis, student indebtedness, a 9.4% unemployment level, the failing state of California and unchecked massive immigration – legal and illegal.

I am not asking that this bill not be passed. It is 1200 pages long. I am sure no one will get beyond 10 pages of it and besides the science is far from “settled” as I read of how Spain’s green economy has an astounding 18% inflation and France and Australia are skeptical about passing their own cap-and-trade laws, until at least Copenhagen is through, where the world can discuss this.

Whats the hurry Obama? Pelosi? Cant wait till December? I think America has more important things to worry about at the present moment.

It is against this awesome backdrop that I considered my task especially important. If the honorable and most excellent representatives don’t understand math, economics or basic philosophical principles such as “good”, “right” or “justice”, then at least they can apprehend losing the next election.

The language of the press release was quite dull and banal to me. Basically, the line went “if you vote for the bill, you will put incredible stress on the economy; people will feel it and vote you out”. We all know that if the economy comes under increased strain, it is the poor, most of whom are Black, who will suffer the most. Perhaps thats why it made sense to ensure that Black congressmen had a chance to understand what they were about to do in the context of their people’s welfare.

Telling a politician he risks losing an election is much more effective than say, presenting the arguments of Plato advocating “the right thing to do”. That is what is so disappointing to me. Is it not possible for the president, house speaker, senate majority leader and congress to consider this very thing? The right thing? It is sad that we have to sacrifice considering transcendent principles nowadays and resort to the cheap, pedestrian talk of winning or losing elections.

Maybe that won’t be the case anyway. As we all know, much of the stimulus package has not been spent as yet. Perhaps congress will perform the suicidal act of passing this travesty of a law and still be able to buy votes come 2010/2012 in form of paltry $300 stimulus checks or earmarks and pet projects: money which came from the people’s own taxes.

Alexander Fraser Tytler said to us:

The American Republic will endure, until politicians realize they can bribe the people with their own money.

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Art Exhibits , Sightseeing,Classes! Oh the life of Wonderwoman!

Hello There My Fellow World Changers,

Today was a very eventful day. I had the pleasure of going to an art exhibit at OAS. The paintings were that of Caribbean artists primarily Haitian artists with a few from Jamaican and Cuban artists. The peices depicted a lot of Haitian superstitions and rituals which shed light on some of their beliefs today. The artwork occupied two floors and was exceptionally beautiful. There was one specific peice from a Jamican artist that depicted a regular day in a city in Jamaica. This peice was the most conspicuous because it reminded me of my home St. Lucia and the striking similarities that we share with other Caribbean countries. It was a refreshing change from the artwork that other museums and galleries display becuase I connected with the peices on a more personal level.

I also attended a class at The Foundation Center on fundraising for non-profit organizations. The moral of this story: You can run, you can hide but none of your “personal” information is never private . We learnt about all tactics that can be used to track down someone’s personal information. For $39.99 you can get whatever information you need on someone.Most people are oblivious to the fact there’s a wealth of information on the internet about them that they may not even know exists.Sometimes it is incredibly hard  to get people to donate to a certain cause because they are bombarded with requests from all these different organizations and its impossible for them to offer financial support to them all. The secret lies in your approach and your overall strategy which requires immense research. Occassionally while reviewing the names of people who have donated large sums of money to organizations you see the name of a politician or celebrity and it just brings a smile to your face because its happy to know that they’re using their celebrity to make a change.

‘ Til Next Time,

EzMa!

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Committee Mark-up

Wow, I saw John McCain today!
I went to the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pension (HELP) Committee Mark-up of Affordable Health Choices Act. A lot of Senators were at the meeting to discuss about cost, fraud and abuse issues and debated an amendment on drug re-importation. I was able to notice a stark difference between economic ideals of the Democrats and the Republicans as they were arguing about importation of medicine. Republican Senators, mainly Senators McCain and Enzi, were pressing for importing of drugs to drive down the cost of domestic medicine. However, Democratic Senators, including Senators Harkin, Mikulski, and Dodd, were in favor of regulation on imported drugs for consumer protection. Sounds very familiar… It was exciting to see so many Senators at once and hear them argue about different issues.
I went lobbying with my boss in the afternoon. We went to two Representatives to talk about our concerns. I learned that some Representatives actually live in their office and sleep on their couch. This one Representative’s office looked like a living room and it was because he actually lived there! How interesting…
I really enjoy working and going to different meetings. I hope the Health Care Bill gets passed soon!

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