Employment
Jo Freeman: There’s Plenty To Do at the RNC – If You Have the Right Credentials
by Jo Freeman
Every national nominating convention has plenty of auxiliary events, some authorized, some not. Getting space can be a challenge; getting the word out even more so. But they do it nonetheless. Press were given a RNC 2024 Master Event Calendar, which was updated a few days later. Events began on Sunday and ended on Thursday. The actual convention sessions were just one item on the list. The calendar said if an event was Open or Closed to press, and also whom to contact to register. I’m going to describe some of the events, including a couple I went to, and a couple I was turned away from.
Since my focus is on women, I obviously wanted to go to those events – if I could.
The National Federation of Republican Women is the largest grassroots Republican women's organization in the country with hundreds of clubs. Founded in 1938, its members made the phone calls and knocked on the doors that elected Republican candidates for decades. It’s Tuesday luncheon featured Arkansas Governor Sarah Sanders. The Master Calendar said it was SOLD OUT and they wouldn’t let me in. I was able to get into their lounge at the Fiserv Forum Wednesday evening, where I was repeatedly asked if I was a member, and if not, would I join. “I’m press,” I said. “I can’t join anything partisan.” I then said: “What brings you here?” On hearing that, finding anyone willing to chat with me was like pulling teeth.
Moms for Liberty met in a concert hall that afternoon. I had pre-registered, and I got in. From high in a balcony seat I listened to several people talk about the evils of transgenderism. It’s webpage says WE BELIEVE Power Belongs to the People. Sound Familiar? With a focus is on parental rights, it wants to “STOP WOKE indoctrination.”
Tuesday I went to “The New Mavericks” reception co-hosted by the Black Republican Mayors Association and the Georgia Republican Party. They honored Sen. Tim Scott, four Congressmen and two Georgia delegates – all male. There was only one mayor on stage, from Aurora, IL. The chair of the Georgia Republican Party was the one white man on the stage. At that event, women served; they didn’t speak. The RNC reported that 55 delegates to the 2024 convention are Black, up from 18 in 2016.
I missed the Independent Women’s Forum toast to “Women Who Make Our Country Great” because I went to Convention Fest: The Official Delegate Experience, which was held in the streets outside the Fiserve Forum and Baird Hall as well as some space inside Baird. To get to that one you not only needed a credential of some sort, but a USSS pass (which I have).
Concerned Women for America parked its pink bus across from the Baird Center the week before the RNC. No one was home. When Convention Fest opened on Tuesday afternoon, they set up a pink tent, from which its leaders preached to whomever passed by. It calls itself “the nation’s largest public policy women’s organization” but its focus is evangelical Christian. The slogan on the side of its pink bus captures this emphasis: “She Prays, She Votes.” A prayer precedes each sermon.
Update: Hearings, Markups & Bills Introduced and a Vintage Joe Biden Moment: Deceptive Advertising of Abortion Services, Improve Data on Sexual Violence Act, Women-Owned Small Business Program
A bill to direct the Federal Trade Commission to prescribe rules prohibiting deceptive advertising of abortion services; “Racial Disparities and Social Determinants in the Maternal Mortality Crisis;” reporting of incidents of child abuse or neglect; Improve Data on Sexual Violence Act; A bill to improve the care provided by the secretary of Veterans Affairs to newborn children; A resolution recognizing the fifth anniversary of the Chibok girls kidnapping by the Boko Haram Terrorist Organization; improving the capacity of military criminal investigative organizations to prevent child sexual exploitation; A bill to improve Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program for low-income mothers.
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How Educated Are We? About 13.1 Percent Have a Master’s, Professional Degree or Doctorate; Number Doubles Since 2000
Since 2000, the number of people age 25 and over whose highest degree was a master’s has doubled to 21 million. The number of doctoral degree holders has more than doubled to 4.5 million. Now, about 13.1 percent of US adults have an advanced degree, up from 8.6 percent in 2000The tables show, among other things, that women make up a smaller share of high school dropouts than men, the share of Asians with advanced degrees is growing and that recent immigrants are more likely to go to college than earlier immigrants or native-born. more »
"Fed Listens", How Does Monetary Policy Affect Your Community? "Our goal is to keep inflation around 2 percent over time"
"Today's community listening session is part of a series called 'Fed Listens.' The Federal Reserve is undertaking a review to make sure we are carrying out the monetary policy goals assigned to us by the Congress in the most effective way we can... we are reaching out to communities around the country in sessions like this to understand how you are experiencing the economy day to day ... our goal is to keep inflation around 2 percent over time ... Congress has directed us to achieve the highest level of employment — and thus the lowest level of unemployment—that is consistent with price stability." more »
Individual Placement and Support (IPS) “holds promise ... for people with opioid use disorders” & The Changing Perceptions Through Art and Storytelling ’Opioid Project
Researchers suggest programs that help people find and keep jobs might help boost employment among people with substance use disorder. One such model is Individual Placement and Support (IPS), which was designed for people with serious mental illnesses. A 2017 pilot study of IPS among 45 people enrolled in an opioid treatment program found that 50 percent of those who were assisted in finding work through IPS attained competitive employment within six months, compared with 5 percent of the participants who were waitlisted for IPS. “The Opioid Project” exhibition demonstrates: “Behind every person who has lived with the complicated and fraught life of drug addiction and its many cofactors, there is a human being with lots of hopes and dreams.”
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