This is the op ed piece I wrote to celebrate when the minimum wage finally went into effect. It ran in several papers in Idaho. We should not be too bogged down on the statistics to lose sight of that fact paying people for work is a moral issue. This pay raise also comes at a time when one of Idaho's biggest corporations is laying off workers as a result of global trade policies and despite years of tax give-aways. Read More »

If you are in Southwest Idaho or the Wood River Valley, please plan attend a workshop or reception sponsored by Trillium Asset Management on how we can change social and environmental policies by organizing how our money is invested. In Idaho, we are working to demand that our retirement funds are divested from corporations doing business with the genocidal government of Sudan. A great workshop with a national leader visiting Idaho will be held on Wednesday along with receptions in Boise and Ketchum. Read More »

People all over the country want the occupation of Iraq to come to an end and to begin healing families at home and the US's moral standing in the world. To demand an end to the political games and filibusters in DC, people are gathering tonight at their US Senator's offices. In Boise, the gathering is outside Sen. Craig's office at 225 N. 9th Street at 5:00 pm. Read More »

I just got an e-mail from someone who asked me if I support universal health care. More and more people who have never been involved in activism or elections have been inspired by Michael Moore's movie "SiCKO" to DO SOMETHING: they are reaching out to organizations and public officials and candidates and even neighbors to demand action. This was a constant topic at the Take America Back Conference in June. We saw a preview of part of the film then. Here is what Roger Hickey from the Campaign for America's Future wrote last week. Have you been prompted to act yet? How? Read More »

United Action for Idaho and other organizations in Idaho are asking Idaho's congressional delegation not to sign on to a partisan loyalty oath before they even consider the budget this year. The Bush Administration expects some members of Congress to fall in lock step and swear not to override any vetoes of appropriation bills, even before they know what is in them. We've put together a letter asking our delegation to represent all Idaho families, to fairly and honestly consider restoring investment in health, education, child care and other vital services that have been neglected by past Congresses, and to refuse to sign the loyalty oath letter. Read More »

Very few national leaders will admit there is a global economic crisis causing massive dislocation of people. Instead they choose to focus narrowly on one of the symptoms and frame it as a problem of "immigration." The ensuing national debate has been petty and personal. Why not commemorate the 4th of July this year by following the example of the revolutionaries who founded our country and challenge the powerful economic and political institutions that have fueled the crisis. Perhaps then we will come closer to their vision of "liberty and justice for all." Read More »

Attorney General Gonzales's visit to our community illustrated the dominant perspective in our government that a small group of rulers are entitled to decide what is best for our communities and that we - the ordinary people who make up thousands of communities in our country - should be passive consumers of those decisions. And, when the rulers visit the communities in their realm, they feel entitled to interact with the people as passive and appreciative consumers. The notion of ordinary people as participants in the process of governing conflicts so sharply with their perspective that they react by retreating behind the walls they've built to separate us. Read More »

Alberto Gonzales is in Boise tomorrow, Tuesday, June 26 from 2:00 - 3:00 pm at the Fort Boise Community Center. He is the Bush Administration's Attorney General. He has promoted the administration's torture policy, has worked to use our government to undermine our civil rights and has taken our Republic's Department of Justice and turned it into an arm of the Republican party. I hope everyone can find the time to come and greet the AG and share with him that Idaho does NOT these policies. Read More »

Hope to ses some other Idahoans at the national Take Back America Conference this coming week in Washington, DC. They'll have a lot of big names but I hope there will be a lot of respect for the impressive work being done by thousands of unsung grassroots leaders - ordinary people making social change happen in their communities. Check out the agenda and let us know what you think. Send me questions I should ask the speakers. Read More »

Today, the leaders of Idaho's organized workers gathered in Lewiston and passed a resolution to support a federal budget that reflects America's values and to urge our congressional delegation not to pre-emptively sign on to sustain a veto. United Action for Idaho helped to pass this resolution at the AFL-CIO convention. It passed unanimously. Read more for the full text of the resolution. Many more community groups should pass a similar resolution. Will you help? Read More »