Moving Susquehanna Valley Forward

A Note From the League of Women Voters, PA

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VICTORY!! The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled today that the 2011 Congressional district maps were “clearly, plainly, and palpably unconstitutional” and is requiring the General Assembly to redraw the map and the Governor to approve it by February 15.

We are thrilled with the decision of the PA Supreme Court.  The League has been fighting against gerrymandering for nearly a quarter century – along with other allies in Pennsylvania.  The Order is available here.

This lawsuit was intended to protect the rights of all voters, regardless of party affiliation. The creation of “safe” seats for either party undermines the ability of all voters to elect representatives of their choosing. We sued to make sure that elections will be decided by the voters, not by partisan politicians. Today’s decision rights a wrong that diluted the Pennsylvanian’s votes and undermined our democracy.  This is a victory for all Pennsylvanians regardless of party – fair elections aren’t about Republicans or Democrats, it’s about all of us.

We are so thankful to work beside amazing lawyers from Arnold Porter Kaye and Scholer, LLP as well as the Public Interest Law Center. Their hard work advocating on behalf of Pennsylvania voters has paid off.

It’s important to note that these maps are a direct result of a process that gives elected officials the power, rather than the voters.  We know that the current process has led to unfair maps. It’s time for legislators to listen to what Pennsylvanians are saying and change the process. Senate Bill 22 and House Bill 722 would change the process so an independent citizens redistricting commission was in charge of drawing the maps. It would give voters a voice in the process and mandate transparency. These bills were introduced over a year ago and have yet to get a hearing.  It is time to move forward.

Our democracy only works if everyone’s vote has equal weight, and the “clearly, plainly and palpably unconstitutional” 2011 congressional districts map took the power from the people and put it in the hands of legislators. There’s more work to be done, but for today, we CELEBRATE!

Film Underscores Impacts of Climate Change

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Last night, CommUnity Zone and Susquehanna Valley Progressives co-sponsored a screening of Al Gore’s latest film, An Inconvenient Sequel at The Campus Theater in Lewisburg.

The film is a sequel to An Inconvenient Truth, which was released a decade ago and brought climate change into the heart of popular culture.An Inconvenient Sequel, shows just how accurate many of the predictions made in the first film were and, more importantly, how close we are to a real energy revolution.

120 people came out to watch the film and  a few dozen came to the subsequent discussion, which was moderated by local climate advocate Peterson Toscano and included panelists: Rob Altenburg of PennFuture and Dr. Nino Antadze, a visiting professor at Bucknell University .

Donations (a total of $371!) were collected at the film for the hurricane victims in Puerto Rico as these powerful hurricanes are becoming more and more prevalent due to warming air and water temperatures. 100% of the funds collected will be contributed to United for Puerto Rico. United for Puerto Rico is an initiative brought forth by the First lady of Puerto Rico, Beatriz Rosselló in collaboration with the private sector, with the purpose of providing aid and support to those affected in Puerto Rico by the passage of Hurricane Irma and Hurricane María.

The film underscores the devastating impacts of climate change, the resolve of many political, civic and religious leaders (on all sides of the political aisle) to take action, and the need for more to be done.

Al Gore and his organization, Climate Reality Project, are coming to Pennsylvania later in October to host the 36th Climate Reality Leadership Corps activist training in Pittsburgh. Over the course of three days, world class scientists, communicators, and climate experts will join former US Vice President and Climate Reality Founder and Chairman Al Gore to train citizens to become Climate Reality Leaders, who organize their communities for action on the climate crisis. Several local advocates plan to attend.

Susquehanna Valley Progressives is a nonpartisan organization united for the betterment of the whole community. We envision a community that empowers individuals to be engaged in and educated on the democratic process; promotes equality and appreciation of diversity; improves the living and working standards of all that live in Susquehanna Valley and actively protects our natural world. Learn more at SVProgress.org.

The CommUnity Zone unites area nonprofit organizations and the people in our community through collaborations to conduct and support community education and build capacity to sustain and improve a quality of life for all community residents. We are particularly interested in ways to empower all voices in the achievement of personal goals. Learn more at CommUnityZoneLewisburg.org.

Take action on Healthcare and State Budget

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Say NO to the latest Republican plan to repeal the ACA

The U.S. Senate is scheduled to take up healthcare reform legislation this week, that if enacted, could result in as many as 32 million Americans without health care. The Graham-Cassidy proposal would repeal and replace significant portions of the Affordable Care Act and revert to a block grant scheme that would likely reduce spending on healthcare and force state officials to cut back on health coverage or take resources from other critical programs. Here are some key talking points:

  • Establishes a per-capita cap on Medicaid
  • Ends Medicaid expansion as we know it
  • Rolls back protections for Americans with pre-existing conditions
  • Ends employer mandates
  • Leaves more Vets uninsured
  • Children in some states, including Pennsylvania, are at immediate risk of losing coverage
  • People over the age of 50 can be charged an unlimited amount for coverage.
  • Republicans are pushing a vote before the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office can release a full analysis.
SOME ADDITIONAL READING

ACTION: CALL SENATOR TOOMEY (202-224-4254) AND TELL HIM TO PUT THE HEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIANS ABOVE HIS POLITICAL PARTY AND VOTE NO! CALL SENATOR CASEY AND THANK HIM ON HIS LEADERSHIP. CONSIDERWRITING A LETTER TO THE EDITOR AND THANKING CASEY PUBLICLY FOR HIS VOTES TO PROTECT OUR HEALTH CARE.  

Demand a Responsible and Fair State Budget

Last week, Republican house members in the state legislature put forth one of the most irresponsible budgets that we have seen in recent history. The house budget proposal does nothing to fix the deficit going forward nor does it generate any additional revenue.  Instead, it relies on one-time transfers from dedicated funds that are intended for investment in community projects.

The Senate recently passed a bill that does include a severance tax but also includes regulatory provisions that jeopardizes environmental protections of our clean and and water.

We should not sacrifice our clean air and water nor dedicated funds to improve our communities for a balanced budget.

SOME ADDITIONAL READING:

ACTION: CALL YOUR STATE SENATOR AND TELL THEM TO: PASS A BUDGET WITH RECURRING REVENUE; OPPOSE ANY RAIDS ON SPECIAL FUNDS; SUPPORT A RESPONSIBLE AND FAIR SEVERANCE TAX THAT DOES NOT JEOPARDIZE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTIONS: AND UPHOLD OUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS TO CLEAN AIR AND WATER. 

 

Get Smart About the News — Presentation

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Thanks to MaryJean Moser for the excellent presentation on determining what’s real and fake when it comes to news stories. Below you can download her presentation or view in Google Slides.

Download Presentation

Open as Google Slides

Collaborators on this presentation

MaryJean Moser has been involved in training and education in one way or another
for over 40 years. After six years as a high school English teacher, she spent two
years in the Peace Corps as a community trainer. In her 14-year corporate career, she
worked for various Bell System companies in all aspects of communications, training,
and professional development. In her 20 years at Bucknell University, she has worked in the
Library and in the Education Department.

Pat Scott is the Librarian for the School of Sciences, Humanities & Visual Communications and also serves as the College Archivist. Her professional interests include archival management, book preservation, and emergency preparedness for libraries and archives. In 2009, Pat was among the delegation of U.S. archivists who visited China to meet with archivists in Beijing and Shanghai as part of a People to People Ambassadors program. She has visited libraries in Cairo and St. Petersburg, Russia.

Joanna Huxster is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida.From 2015 until the summer of 2017, Joanna worked at Bucknell in a Postdoctoral Research position that focused on the nature of public understanding of science.

SVP calls on leaders to unequivocally denounce racism

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The Susquehanna Valley Progressives sent the following letter to members of the General Assembly and Congressional Delegation representing the Susquehanna Valley. The letter demands that they come out publicly to strongly denounce racism and any equivalence among those who hate and those who seek equality.

Please contact your legislator as soon as possible and demand that they show leadership on this issue.

  • The Honorable Robert Casey
  • The Honorable Patrick Toomey
  • The Honorable Lou Barletta
  • The Honorable Tom Marino
  • The Honorable John Gordner
  • The Honorable Lynda Schlegel Culver
  • The Honorable Fred Keller
  • The Honorable Kurt Masser
  • The Honorable Gene Yaw

SUBJ: WE NEED OUR LEADERS HERE IN THE SUSQUEHANNA VALLEY TO DENOUNCE RACISM AND REJECT ANY EQUIVALANCE AMONG THOSE WHO HATE AND THOSE WHO SEEK EQUALITY

Dear Susquehanna Valley Members of the General Assembly and Congressional Delegation:

We are writing to you to appeal to your moral leadership.

The events this month in Charlottesville, VA underscore Americans’ need for our leaders to disavow hate, racism and bigotry. We need to hear from our leaders and know that they reject the message of far-right hate groups and denounce the idea that celebrating white supremacy, slavery could be in any way morally equivalent to seeking equality and peace.

On Friday August 11, dozens of self described white nationalists bore torches, a symbolic nod to Ku Klux Klan marches of yesteryear, and chanted phrases like “Jews will not replace us” and “Blood and Soil” (a favorite slogan of Adolph Hitler) as they marched in Charlottesvile. The march organizers maintained that the event was intended to oppose the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue in what is now called Emancipation Park. However, racist, anti-Semitic chants quickly revealed the true purpose of the gathering.

The Unite the Right rally, held the following day, no more ambiguous. The event was organized by members of the Nationalist Front and openly invited the Ku Klux Klan, Neo-Nazis and other white supremacist members of the far right. Prominent attendees included Richard Spencer and former KKK Imperial Wizard David Duke. Many rally attendees, emboldened with semi-automatic weapons, carried swastikas and confederate flags and chanted racist and anti-Semetic mantras.

The escalation of tension prompted the city leaders to cancel the rally. Unfortunately, the day ended in tragedy when a white supremacist drove his car into a crowd of counter protestors, killing one woman and injuring 19 others. A clear act of domestic terrorism.

The events of this weekend were dreadful enough without the heartless and callous comments of our president, who failed to immediately call out racism and even suggested that both sides were to blame.

On the Saturday that the deadly terrorist attack occurred, he failed to condemn the hate-inspired rally and even suggested some level of equivalence between those who marched and those who protested. He never called the mother of Heather Heyer, the 32-year old who was killed in the attack, to offer his condolences, nor did he call the event a terrorist attack. He failed to denounce white supremacy in his remarks and instead suggested that blame lay on all sides.

On Monday, Trump read a prepared statement denouncing white supremacy and hate groups. Unfortunately, his compassion was short lived.

In a press conference the following day, Trump defiantly claimed both sides were to blame for the deadly attack and sympathized with the white supremacists and neo-Nazis. He went so far as to suggest that many who marched on Friday and Saturday, with swastikas, confederate flags, Hitler quotes and other Nazi-inspired symbolism, were “fine people”. He implied that the white supremacists who marched are the same as those who were protesting against hate, intolerance, anti-Semetism, racism and bigotry.

The events that occurred in Charlottesville are sad and troubling. We expect our leaders to denounce such hatred and acts of terror. Instead our president sympathized with members of far-right hate groups.

Regardless of party affiliation or ideology, we all must stand against hate and racism. Our forefathers fought the Civil War to end slavery and keep our nation united; millions of Americans (with over 400,000 giving their lives) fought fascism in WWII. Have we forgotten?

We need assurance that our local leaders represent American values: freedom, equality and unity.

Susquehanna Valley Progressives is calling on our political leaders here in the Susquehanna Valley to reject the ideology of far-right hate groups and denounce the idea that those who seek equality and peace are not equivalent to those who celebrate white supremacy, slavery and antisemitism.

This letter is being sent to members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly and Congressional Delegation to request that they speak out publicly to denounce racism and white supremacy and to reject the comments made by President Trump.

We are asking you to please come out publicly and denounce racism and white supremacist and reject any equivalence among those who hate and those who seek equality.

If you don’t stand up against hate and injustice, you are complicit in standing up for hate and injustice.

This is an issue that must cross political divides. As an official elected to represent all your constituents, we need your leadership at this time and hope that you will demonstrate that you represent all in the Susquehanna Valley.

Sincerely,

Susquehanna Valley Progressives

Susquehanna Valley Progressives is a nonpartisan organization united for the betterment of the whole community. We envision a community that empowers individuals to be engaged in and educated on the democratic process; promotes equality and appreciation of diversity; improves the living and working standards of all that live in Susquehanna Valley and actively protects our natural world.