Joel's Blog
2350 petition signatures given to NYSBOE; ten weeks, ten ways to win June 26th primary!...
Hi all...
Wow-- incredible-- frankly, I wasn't sure if we'd be able to do this-- but Team Tyner has pulled through!...
We've gathered 2350 signatures!...(Bill & Melinda McKnight counted these for several hours Sunday night; Fred Knapp, Ira Margulies, and David Gill confirmed yesterday too)...
There is NO way I could have done this myself-- this has truly been a team effort (we gathered signatures together from literally every corner of the newly drawn 19th Congressional District)-- thx to you all(!):
Burr Hubbell, Gloria Waslyn, Cameron Williams, Manna Jo Greene, Andi Weiss Bartczak, Irwin Sperber, Bruce Burns, Ellen Melnick, Michelle Richardson, Dan and Mitzi Terpening, Jay Wenk, Sue Holland, Liana Turner, Chris Knoeppel, Irene Miller, Carol Valentine, Gary Kenton and Laura Linder, Karen Whelan (Minervini), Marcia Slatkin and Dan Maciejak, Kerry Flood Cubas, Janet Couch, Marie Caruso, Linda Puiatti, Joanne Steele, Sheila Dvorak, Jessica Vecchione, Joan Horton, Diana Cline, Mickey Haggerty, Mae Parker-Harris, Ann Perry, Otia Lee, Bill McCabe, Judy Malstrom, Betty Olson, Linda Abbott, Barbara Upton, Eric Deyo, Ed Kenny, Matt Lessner, Nancy Swanson, Valerie Carlisle, Michele Riddell, Doug Smyth, Elaine Fernandez, Cynthia Owen Philip, Frances Sandiford, Irving Hall, Lyn Beken, Misty Miller, Bob Balcom, Doris Kelly, Rachel Collins Kelly, Martin Michaels, Pam Krimsky, Deb Szeredy, John Parete, Stew and Matt Verrilli, Jane Brien, Mike and Mindy Kennedy, Richard Krzcminski, Raina Whan, Andrew Sheppard, Duncan Christy, Susan Furey, music from Alexia Evans, Julia Nichols, Chris Davison, Paul McMahon, Mighty Xee, EC, Joey Eppard,Salted Bros (Ted Orr et. al.), Erayna Cranston, and Forrest Hackenbrock--with more help/inspiration/work from many from Occupy Poughkeepsie like Russell
Bimbo, Kyle Van Steenburgh, Brady Massey, Stephen Greiner, Jared Keasbey-- with special assistance from Fran and Fred Knapp, Ira Margulies, Vicky Perry, David Gill, many, many more to come-- on to June 26th primary; let's go!...
[looking forward to debating The Anointed One all over-- let us know if YOU can set up a local debate, folks!...(this is crucial-- I really and truly am convinced I can beat Schreibman if I'm allowed to debate him across the 19th c.d.; need your help!]
[note, too-- we got a copy of Schreibman's petition signatures-- seems there were
only about ten names or so from here in Dutchess County signed on-- good for us!]
[spoke with Mae Parker-Harris yesterday-- she wants to bring Ann Perry and Sharon, more back to Kingston for even more door-to-door next weekend!...(we did this Sun.)]
[note new info here (scroll down just a bit below)-- proposed schedule for rallies/press conferences for next ten weeks-- we CAN take this primary, folks-- but only if EACH and EVERY one of you steps up to the plate to be responsible for educating, organizing, and mobilizing YOUR community-- YOUR town, city, or village-- on the ten issues listed below; see below!...(note-- am looking for feedback/ideas!)]
Our campaign endorsers include Pete Seeger, Cornel West, Josh Fox, Jeff Cohen, Medea Benjamin, Dutchess County Democratic Elections Commissioner Fran Knapp, former Co. Leg. Bill McCabe, current Co. Leg.'s Jim Doxsey and Steve White, Woodstock Town Boardmember Jay Wenk, Rosendale Town Boardmember Manna Jo Greene, New Paltz Village Boardmember Ariana Basco (Working Families Party member), Troy Area Labor Council President Mike Keenan, PEF/DEC anti-fracking engineer Wayne Bayer, and 260+ others-- join us at www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel -- pass it along!...
Please let us know asap if you and/or someone you know might be able
to host a house party-- we need to raise a TON of cash asap to win
primary-- and go on to best Gibson in November!...
And-- send what you can now-- to Joel for Congress, 324 Browns Pond
Rd., Staatsburg, NY 12580...
[letters to editor valuable too-- thx much to Valerie Carlisle for
hers in Sat. PoJo; McKnights, Andi, more]
We're looking for folks in EACH of 100+ communities in 19th: step up,
be responsible for coordination...
Let us know if you're up to task of organizing, massing, and locking
down Dem votes for 6/26 primary!...
[Dutchess, Columbia, Greene, Rensselaer, Delaware, Otsego, Sullivan,
Ulster, Schoharie, Montgomery; Cong. district maps:
https://www.nyed.uscourts.gov/pub/docs/cv/324457/1.11.cv.5632.6729180.2.pdf]
Thanks again tons to you all for making this campaign a reality--
together we can get to the next step!..
250 brand-new lawn signs recently delivered-- let us know if you
could use a lawn sign, folks...
As Betty Olson told 100+ gathered at her home and in Rosendale
Sunday at 99% Spring trainings (with Linda Abbott and Barbara
Upton)...
WE ARE UNSTOPPABLE-- ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE: WE CAN DO THIS-- WE
MUST DO THIS!...
[pass it on]
Joel
845-444-0599/876-2488
joeltyner@earthlink.net
http://www.JoelforCongress.org (tell your friends-- PayPal link online here!)
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel (260+ on board; join us!)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Ten weeks, ten issues to take back 19th c.d. from bipartisan Tweedledee/Tweedledum sell-out madness-- help us!...
[to me, the ten issues below encapsulate our winning populist, progressive campaign!]
[merely tentative schedule here for approval/fleshing out @ Team Tyner mtg. soon; looking for feedback-- changes?...additions?...subtractions?...let us know!]
[note, too-- I'm not suggesting that each event take place exactly on Monday, k?]
WEEK ONE: Mon. Apr. 23rd-- RALLY FOR SENIORS/HEALTH CARE FOR ALL-- Medicare for all; NO cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security
[PNHP.org; www.ThePetitionSite.com/takeaction/347/625/425/]
WEEK TWO: Mon. Apr. 30th-- RALLY FOR SMALL BUSINESS (bring back FDR's Glass-Steagall Act)
[www.PetitionOnline.com/FDRagain]
WEEK THREE: Mon. May 7th-- RALLY FOR JOBS/LABOR (repeal NAFTA; public works, living wage)
[AFLCIO.org]
WEEK FOUR: Mon. May 14th-- RALLY FOR GOVERNMENT OF, FOR, BY PEOPLE-- amend Constitution; corporations aren't people, CMCE, repeal NDAA (indefinite detention)
[MovetoAmend.org; FairElectionsNow.org
WEEK FIVE: Mon. May 21st-- RALLY FOR WOMEN-- stand up for reproductive justice
[PlannedParenthood.org]
WEEK SIX: Mon. May 28th-- RALLY TO BAN/CRIMINALIZE FRACKING-- solar/wind/geothermal now
[CriminalizeFracking.org; VoteSolar.org]
WEEK SEVEN: Mon. June 4th-- RALLY FOR FAMILY FARMERS-- stop Wall Street speculation
[FoodandWaterWatch.org/food/fair-farm/]
WEEK EIGHT: Mon. June 11th-- RALLY FOR PEACE (IRAN, AFGHANISTAN, IRAQ)-- stop the insanity
[FPIF.org, Peace-Action.org, VeteransforPeace.org]
WEEK NINE: Mon. June 18th-- RALLY FOR SCHOOLS/UNIVERSITIES-- fully fund our public schools; end college student debt, free college tuition
[ProjectonStudentDebt.org]
WEEK TEN: Mon. June 25th-- GOTV RALLY FOR REAL MAJORITY-- polls prove we're majority
[DutchessDemocracy.blogspot.com/2011/08/help-launch-real-majority-columbia.html]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Don't forget folks-- say it with some authority-- WE ARE THE REAL
MAJORITY(!): [it's true; see below]
[what happens when too many in power in both parties ignore
facts/polls below?...disillusionment!]
Fact: "86% of Americans say Wall Street and its lobbyists have too
much influence in Washington in a January poll by Time magazine, and
77% of Americans say too much power is concentrated in the hands of a
few rich people and large corporations in a January poll by the Pew
Research Center.
[from "Corporate Rule Is Not Inevitable" by Sarah van Gelder (Jan. 20th):
http://www.YesMagazine.org/blogs/sarah-van-gelder/corporate-rule-is-not-inevitable
]
Fact: 81% of Americans support taxing millionaires/billionaires more:
solve federal budget woes.
[
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/7333/what_americans_want_the_peoples_budget
]
Fact: 80% of Americans oppose Citizens United Supreme Court decision;
corporations aren't people.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenumbers/2010/02/in-supreme-court-ruling-on-campaign-finance-the-public-dissents.html
; http://www.freespeechforpeople.org/node/75
Fact: 78% of Americans support protecting Medicare, Social Security,
and Medicaid from any cuts.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/poll-shows-americans-oppose-entitlement-cuts-to-deal-with-debt-problem/2011/04/19/AFoiAH9D_story.html
Fact: 59% of Americans support expanding Medicare to cover us all--
to save $400 billion a year; in fact, "Americans prefer a
single-payer system of health care two-to-one over a privatized
system; single-payer is a model in which health care delivery would
remain largely private, but would be paid for by a single federal
health insurance fund (much like Medicare provides for seniors and
comparable to Canada's current system)"
[from Ralph Nader's new book-- "Getting Steamed to Overcome
Corporatism": http://www.csrl.org/gs/ ;
http://www.healthcare-now.org/another-poll-shows-majority-support-for-single-payer/
; PNHP.org]
Fact: 67% of Americans support $10/hour minimum wage to put money in
pockets of working class.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/06/americans-minimum-wage-poll_n_752921.html
Fact: 53% of Americans support full federal funding for Planned
Parenthood & reproductive justice.
http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/node/15708
Fact: More New Yorkers support protecting drinking water with
statewide ban on fracking than not.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/15/new-york-gas-drilling-rul_n_900011.html
Fact: 54% of Americans support full funding for the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency-- not cuts.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2011/02/16/harris-poll-epa-budget/ ]
Fact: 79% of New Yorkers support Clean Money Clean Elections-- real
campaign finance reform.
http://rochesterturning.com/2008/04/28/poll-says-3-of-4-new-yorkers-support-publicly-financed-elections/
Fact: 59% of Americans support our troops coming home from
Afghanistan/Iraq NOW without delay.
http://www.thinkprogress.org/2011/05/11/afghanistan-get-out-59-percent/
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Recall-- the Dutchess County Dem Committee just about split almost
exactly down the middle at recent convention vote, there are a TON of
committed Ulster County progressive Dem activists who have come out
of the woodwork over the past few weeks to step forward for this
campaign (many of whom I've known since the early 90's; that's how
long I've been kickin' around as a community activist in these
parts), along with progressive Dems from literally all over newly
drawn 19th Congressional District!...
And-- at end of recent Ulster County Dem Convention, Ulster County
Dem Chair Frank Cardinale informed everyone that my primary opponent
wouldn't necessarily be emulating or living up to the progressive
ideals of Maurice Hinchey...
Well-- that's fine with me-- because that's why I'm running for
Congress-- to preserve Maurice's winning, populist, progressive
legacy that has inspired so many of us for decades...
Maurice is living proof that a populist progressive with grass-roots
appeal can win elections repeatedly here in the Hudson
Valley/Catskills area to the state legislature and then Congress...
...the same thing I've proven over here on this side of the river
over the last decade-- winning five elections in a row to the
Dutchess County Legislature to represent Rhinebeck and Clinton-- even
though both of those communities have long had GOP town supervisors
there(!)...
Recall recent Tues. Poughkeepsie Journal: primary toss-up; Hinchey
not ready to endorse Schreibman:
"Hinchey is not taking sides in the Hudson Valley Democratic primary
battle between attorney Julian Schreibman of Ulster County and
Dutchess County Legislator Joel Tyner...'Whoever the (eventual)
candidate is, I intend to help them,' Hinchey said."
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20120403/NEWS01/304030016/Hinchey-Better-stronger-after-cancer
My connection to Maurice is deep and strong; I first met him in 1994
at his Washington, D.C. offices lobbying for universal healthcare
(single-payer: Medicare for all) with the late great Paul Miller,
Connie Holland, and Max Finestone; kudos to Art Richter (and his VT
daughter Deb!) for pickin' up the torch here locally; I've been there
along side Maurice in trenches fighting for single-payer for
decades...
[even Hudson Valley Area Labor Federation has long made it clear it
strongly supports single-payer:
http://www.pnhp.org/action/organizations-and-government-bodies-endorsing-hr-676-single-payer
]
Unlike The Anointed One, I have long made it 100% clear that I agree
with Maurice Hinchey on these six issues-- that we should save $400
billion a year by expanding Medicare to cover everyone, that we
should bring back FDR's Glass-Steagall Act to break up the big banks,
that our Constitution should be amended to make it clear corporations
aren't people (re: Citizens United/SuperPACs), that NAFTA, CAFTA, and
free trade agreements with Korea, Colombia, and Panama should never
have been passed, that the Fair Elections Now Act should be passed to
make real federal version of Clean Money Clean Elections campaign
reform, and End Excessive Oil Speculation Now should be passed...
But it's not just those six issues -- if you're just as upset as I am
that it's not just Republicans in Washington-- but also too many
Democrats-- that don't seem to be really speaking up against the rush
to war with Iran...aren't speaking up to criminalize
fracking...aren't speaking up against Wall Street (to break up big
banks, tax Wall Street speculation, and truly investigate those
behind destruction of our economy), aren't speaking up against
indefinite detention...aren't speaking up against bipartisan attack
on Medicare/Medicaid, aren't speaking up for a truly sizable public
works/infrastructure jobs program, aren't speaking up for Medicare
for all, aren't speaking up to amend our Constitution to make it
clear corporations aren't people, aren't speaking up Fair Elections
Now legislation (federal version of Clean Money Clean Elections
campaign finance reform), aren't speaking up for fair trade (to get
us out of job-killing NAFTA/GATT/WTO), aren't speaking up for our
troops to come home NOW from Afghanistan, aren't speaking out against
tar sands pipeline, aren't speaking up for our Constitutional
freedoms-- and aren't speaking up for Bradley Manning-- and aren't
speaking up for voting integrity to reject computerized voting
machines...(even Michael Moore reminded us all at Left Forum of this
issue)...
If you're just as upset as I am re: too much bipartisan sell-out on
all those-- help us, folks!...
Wow-- incredible-- frankly, I wasn't sure if we'd be able to do this-- but Team Tyner has pulled through!...
We've gathered 2350 signatures!...(Bill & Melinda McKnight counted these for several hours Sunday night; Fred Knapp, Ira Margulies, and David Gill confirmed yesterday too)...
There is NO way I could have done this myself-- this has truly been a team effort (we gathered signatures together from literally every corner of the newly drawn 19th Congressional District)-- thx to you all(!):
Burr Hubbell, Gloria Waslyn, Cameron Williams, Manna Jo Greene, Andi Weiss Bartczak, Irwin Sperber, Bruce Burns, Ellen Melnick, Michelle Richardson, Dan and Mitzi Terpening, Jay Wenk, Sue Holland, Liana Turner, Chris Knoeppel, Irene Miller, Carol Valentine, Gary Kenton and Laura Linder, Karen Whelan (Minervini), Marcia Slatkin and Dan Maciejak, Kerry Flood Cubas, Janet Couch, Marie Caruso, Linda Puiatti, Joanne Steele, Sheila Dvorak, Jessica Vecchione, Joan Horton, Diana Cline, Mickey Haggerty, Mae Parker-Harris, Ann Perry, Otia Lee, Bill McCabe, Judy Malstrom, Betty Olson, Linda Abbott, Barbara Upton, Eric Deyo, Ed Kenny, Matt Lessner, Nancy Swanson, Valerie Carlisle, Michele Riddell, Doug Smyth, Elaine Fernandez, Cynthia Owen Philip, Frances Sandiford, Irving Hall, Lyn Beken, Misty Miller, Bob Balcom, Doris Kelly, Rachel Collins Kelly, Martin Michaels, Pam Krimsky, Deb Szeredy, John Parete, Stew and Matt Verrilli, Jane Brien, Mike and Mindy Kennedy, Richard Krzcminski, Raina Whan, Andrew Sheppard, Duncan Christy, Susan Furey, music from Alexia Evans, Julia Nichols, Chris Davison, Paul McMahon, Mighty Xee, EC, Joey Eppard,Salted Bros (Ted Orr et. al.), Erayna Cranston, and Forrest Hackenbrock--with more help/inspiration/work from many from Occupy Poughkeepsie like Russell
Bimbo, Kyle Van Steenburgh, Brady Massey, Stephen Greiner, Jared Keasbey-- with special assistance from Fran and Fred Knapp, Ira Margulies, Vicky Perry, David Gill, many, many more to come-- on to June 26th primary; let's go!...
[looking forward to debating The Anointed One all over-- let us know if YOU can set up a local debate, folks!...(this is crucial-- I really and truly am convinced I can beat Schreibman if I'm allowed to debate him across the 19th c.d.; need your help!]
[note, too-- we got a copy of Schreibman's petition signatures-- seems there were
only about ten names or so from here in Dutchess County signed on-- good for us!]
[spoke with Mae Parker-Harris yesterday-- she wants to bring Ann Perry and Sharon, more back to Kingston for even more door-to-door next weekend!...(we did this Sun.)]
[note new info here (scroll down just a bit below)-- proposed schedule for rallies/press conferences for next ten weeks-- we CAN take this primary, folks-- but only if EACH and EVERY one of you steps up to the plate to be responsible for educating, organizing, and mobilizing YOUR community-- YOUR town, city, or village-- on the ten issues listed below; see below!...(note-- am looking for feedback/ideas!)]
Our campaign endorsers include Pete Seeger, Cornel West, Josh Fox, Jeff Cohen, Medea Benjamin, Dutchess County Democratic Elections Commissioner Fran Knapp, former Co. Leg. Bill McCabe, current Co. Leg.'s Jim Doxsey and Steve White, Woodstock Town Boardmember Jay Wenk, Rosendale Town Boardmember Manna Jo Greene, New Paltz Village Boardmember Ariana Basco (Working Families Party member), Troy Area Labor Council President Mike Keenan, PEF/DEC anti-fracking engineer Wayne Bayer, and 260+ others-- join us at www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel -- pass it along!...
Please let us know asap if you and/or someone you know might be able
to host a house party-- we need to raise a TON of cash asap to win
primary-- and go on to best Gibson in November!...
And-- send what you can now-- to Joel for Congress, 324 Browns Pond
Rd., Staatsburg, NY 12580...
[letters to editor valuable too-- thx much to Valerie Carlisle for
hers in Sat. PoJo; McKnights, Andi, more]
We're looking for folks in EACH of 100+ communities in 19th: step up,
be responsible for coordination...
Let us know if you're up to task of organizing, massing, and locking
down Dem votes for 6/26 primary!...
[Dutchess, Columbia, Greene, Rensselaer, Delaware, Otsego, Sullivan,
Ulster, Schoharie, Montgomery; Cong. district maps:
https://www.nyed.uscourts.gov/pub/docs/cv/324457/1.11.cv.5632.6729180.2.pdf]
Thanks again tons to you all for making this campaign a reality--
together we can get to the next step!..
250 brand-new lawn signs recently delivered-- let us know if you
could use a lawn sign, folks...
As Betty Olson told 100+ gathered at her home and in Rosendale
Sunday at 99% Spring trainings (with Linda Abbott and Barbara
Upton)...
WE ARE UNSTOPPABLE-- ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE: WE CAN DO THIS-- WE
MUST DO THIS!...
[pass it on]
Joel
845-444-0599/876-2488
joeltyner@earthlink.net
http://www.JoelforCongress.org (tell your friends-- PayPal link online here!)
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel (260+ on board; join us!)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Ten weeks, ten issues to take back 19th c.d. from bipartisan Tweedledee/Tweedledum sell-out madness-- help us!...
[to me, the ten issues below encapsulate our winning populist, progressive campaign!]
[merely tentative schedule here for approval/fleshing out @ Team Tyner mtg. soon; looking for feedback-- changes?...additions?...subtractions?...let us know!]
[note, too-- I'm not suggesting that each event take place exactly on Monday, k?]
WEEK ONE: Mon. Apr. 23rd-- RALLY FOR SENIORS/HEALTH CARE FOR ALL-- Medicare for all; NO cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security
[PNHP.org; www.ThePetitionSite.com/takeaction/347/625/425/]
WEEK TWO: Mon. Apr. 30th-- RALLY FOR SMALL BUSINESS (bring back FDR's Glass-Steagall Act)
[www.PetitionOnline.com/FDRagain]
WEEK THREE: Mon. May 7th-- RALLY FOR JOBS/LABOR (repeal NAFTA; public works, living wage)
[AFLCIO.org]
WEEK FOUR: Mon. May 14th-- RALLY FOR GOVERNMENT OF, FOR, BY PEOPLE-- amend Constitution; corporations aren't people, CMCE, repeal NDAA (indefinite detention)
[MovetoAmend.org; FairElectionsNow.org
WEEK FIVE: Mon. May 21st-- RALLY FOR WOMEN-- stand up for reproductive justice
[PlannedParenthood.org]
WEEK SIX: Mon. May 28th-- RALLY TO BAN/CRIMINALIZE FRACKING-- solar/wind/geothermal now
[CriminalizeFracking.org; VoteSolar.org]
WEEK SEVEN: Mon. June 4th-- RALLY FOR FAMILY FARMERS-- stop Wall Street speculation
[FoodandWaterWatch.org/food/fair-farm/]
WEEK EIGHT: Mon. June 11th-- RALLY FOR PEACE (IRAN, AFGHANISTAN, IRAQ)-- stop the insanity
[FPIF.org, Peace-Action.org, VeteransforPeace.org]
WEEK NINE: Mon. June 18th-- RALLY FOR SCHOOLS/UNIVERSITIES-- fully fund our public schools; end college student debt, free college tuition
[ProjectonStudentDebt.org]
WEEK TEN: Mon. June 25th-- GOTV RALLY FOR REAL MAJORITY-- polls prove we're majority
[DutchessDemocracy.blogspot.com/2011/08/help-launch-real-majority-columbia.html]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Don't forget folks-- say it with some authority-- WE ARE THE REAL
MAJORITY(!): [it's true; see below]
[what happens when too many in power in both parties ignore
facts/polls below?...disillusionment!]
Fact: "86% of Americans say Wall Street and its lobbyists have too
much influence in Washington in a January poll by Time magazine, and
77% of Americans say too much power is concentrated in the hands of a
few rich people and large corporations in a January poll by the Pew
Research Center.
[from "Corporate Rule Is Not Inevitable" by Sarah van Gelder (Jan. 20th):
http://www.YesMagazine.org/blogs/sarah-van-gelder/corporate-rule-is-not-inevitable
]
Fact: 81% of Americans support taxing millionaires/billionaires more:
solve federal budget woes.
[
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/7333/what_americans_want_the_peoples_budget
]
Fact: 80% of Americans oppose Citizens United Supreme Court decision;
corporations aren't people.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenumbers/2010/02/in-supreme-court-ruling-on-campaign-finance-the-public-dissents.html
; http://www.freespeechforpeople.org/node/75
Fact: 78% of Americans support protecting Medicare, Social Security,
and Medicaid from any cuts.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/poll-shows-americans-oppose-entitlement-cuts-to-deal-with-debt-problem/2011/04/19/AFoiAH9D_story.html
Fact: 59% of Americans support expanding Medicare to cover us all--
to save $400 billion a year; in fact, "Americans prefer a
single-payer system of health care two-to-one over a privatized
system; single-payer is a model in which health care delivery would
remain largely private, but would be paid for by a single federal
health insurance fund (much like Medicare provides for seniors and
comparable to Canada's current system)"
[from Ralph Nader's new book-- "Getting Steamed to Overcome
Corporatism": http://www.csrl.org/gs/ ;
http://www.healthcare-now.org/another-poll-shows-majority-support-for-single-payer/
; PNHP.org]
Fact: 67% of Americans support $10/hour minimum wage to put money in
pockets of working class.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/06/americans-minimum-wage-poll_n_752921.html
Fact: 53% of Americans support full federal funding for Planned
Parenthood & reproductive justice.
http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/node/15708
Fact: More New Yorkers support protecting drinking water with
statewide ban on fracking than not.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/15/new-york-gas-drilling-rul_n_900011.html
Fact: 54% of Americans support full funding for the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency-- not cuts.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2011/02/16/harris-poll-epa-budget/ ]
Fact: 79% of New Yorkers support Clean Money Clean Elections-- real
campaign finance reform.
http://rochesterturning.com/2008/04/28/poll-says-3-of-4-new-yorkers-support-publicly-financed-elections/
Fact: 59% of Americans support our troops coming home from
Afghanistan/Iraq NOW without delay.
http://www.thinkprogress.org/2011/05/11/afghanistan-get-out-59-percent/
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Recall-- the Dutchess County Dem Committee just about split almost
exactly down the middle at recent convention vote, there are a TON of
committed Ulster County progressive Dem activists who have come out
of the woodwork over the past few weeks to step forward for this
campaign (many of whom I've known since the early 90's; that's how
long I've been kickin' around as a community activist in these
parts), along with progressive Dems from literally all over newly
drawn 19th Congressional District!...
And-- at end of recent Ulster County Dem Convention, Ulster County
Dem Chair Frank Cardinale informed everyone that my primary opponent
wouldn't necessarily be emulating or living up to the progressive
ideals of Maurice Hinchey...
Well-- that's fine with me-- because that's why I'm running for
Congress-- to preserve Maurice's winning, populist, progressive
legacy that has inspired so many of us for decades...
Maurice is living proof that a populist progressive with grass-roots
appeal can win elections repeatedly here in the Hudson
Valley/Catskills area to the state legislature and then Congress...
...the same thing I've proven over here on this side of the river
over the last decade-- winning five elections in a row to the
Dutchess County Legislature to represent Rhinebeck and Clinton-- even
though both of those communities have long had GOP town supervisors
there(!)...
Recall recent Tues. Poughkeepsie Journal: primary toss-up; Hinchey
not ready to endorse Schreibman:
"Hinchey is not taking sides in the Hudson Valley Democratic primary
battle between attorney Julian Schreibman of Ulster County and
Dutchess County Legislator Joel Tyner...'Whoever the (eventual)
candidate is, I intend to help them,' Hinchey said."
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20120403/NEWS01/304030016/Hinchey-Better-stronger-after-cancer
My connection to Maurice is deep and strong; I first met him in 1994
at his Washington, D.C. offices lobbying for universal healthcare
(single-payer: Medicare for all) with the late great Paul Miller,
Connie Holland, and Max Finestone; kudos to Art Richter (and his VT
daughter Deb!) for pickin' up the torch here locally; I've been there
along side Maurice in trenches fighting for single-payer for
decades...
[even Hudson Valley Area Labor Federation has long made it clear it
strongly supports single-payer:
http://www.pnhp.org/action/organizations-and-government-bodies-endorsing-hr-676-single-payer
]
Unlike The Anointed One, I have long made it 100% clear that I agree
with Maurice Hinchey on these six issues-- that we should save $400
billion a year by expanding Medicare to cover everyone, that we
should bring back FDR's Glass-Steagall Act to break up the big banks,
that our Constitution should be amended to make it clear corporations
aren't people (re: Citizens United/SuperPACs), that NAFTA, CAFTA, and
free trade agreements with Korea, Colombia, and Panama should never
have been passed, that the Fair Elections Now Act should be passed to
make real federal version of Clean Money Clean Elections campaign
reform, and End Excessive Oil Speculation Now should be passed...
But it's not just those six issues -- if you're just as upset as I am
that it's not just Republicans in Washington-- but also too many
Democrats-- that don't seem to be really speaking up against the rush
to war with Iran...aren't speaking up to criminalize
fracking...aren't speaking up against Wall Street (to break up big
banks, tax Wall Street speculation, and truly investigate those
behind destruction of our economy), aren't speaking up against
indefinite detention...aren't speaking up against bipartisan attack
on Medicare/Medicaid, aren't speaking up for a truly sizable public
works/infrastructure jobs program, aren't speaking up for Medicare
for all, aren't speaking up to amend our Constitution to make it
clear corporations aren't people, aren't speaking up Fair Elections
Now legislation (federal version of Clean Money Clean Elections
campaign finance reform), aren't speaking up for fair trade (to get
us out of job-killing NAFTA/GATT/WTO), aren't speaking up for our
troops to come home NOW from Afghanistan, aren't speaking out against
tar sands pipeline, aren't speaking up for our Constitutional
freedoms-- and aren't speaking up for Bradley Manning-- and aren't
speaking up for voting integrity to reject computerized voting
machines...(even Michael Moore reminded us all at Left Forum of this
issue)...
If you're just as upset as I am re: too much bipartisan sell-out on
all those-- help us, folks!...
Second Annual Tax Day Rally To Make Bank of America Pay Their Fair Share!...
Hi all...
Please let us know asap if you might be able to come out to join us tomorrow Tuesday (Apr. 17th) at 4 pm-- for our Second Annual Tax Day Rally to Make Bank of America Pay Their Fair Share!...
[thx to Rev. Tama Sis Kaya Bell for creating Facebook event here:
http://www.facebook.com/joel.tyner#!/events/403301039688759/ ]
Recall-- last Tax Day (Apr. 18, 2011) together with Ulster MoveOn's Linda Abbott and Barbara Upton, we mobilized 60 folks from all over the Hudson Valley to come out to our First Annual Rally to Make Bank of America Pay Their Fair Share; see: http://usuncut.org/actions/239 ; let's make Tues. bigger(!):
http://www.facebook.com/events/202668686424445/ ; Occupy folks-- let's go-- c'mon; all out Tuesday!...
[taxes are due Tues. Apr. 17th this year; for more on this see:
http://www.npr.org/2012/04/13/150549181/why-2012s-tax-day-falls-on-april-17 ]
Recall Matt Taibbi's "Bank of America: Too Crooked to Fail" from last month in Rolling Stone:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/bank-of-america-too-crooked-to-fail-20120314 ; also:
http://akamat.wordpress.com/2012/04/11/matt-taibbi-on-bank-of-america-occupy-wall-street/http://www.cpa-connecticut.com/blog/?p=5233
[BofA didn't pay any federal taxes last year; got $1 billion tax break-- after getting $45 billion bailout!]
Thanks again much to http://www.OccupyPoughkeepsie.org for inspiring us to move forward on this; many times last fall Occupy Poughkeepsie rallies and marches stopped in front of JPMorgan Chase on Main Street in Poughkeepsie; I still recall how Russell Bimbo, Kyle Van Steenburgh, and Brady Masse8y from Occupy Poughkeepsie also joined us for rallies organized by yours truly last year in front of Bank of America on Market St./Poughkeepsie-- let's ramp it up party peoples!...
[click on these two links for other recent coverage of our work on this issue:
http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/2012/April/13/DCL_bank_forcl-13Apr12.html ;
http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/2012/April/09/DC_bank_div-09Apr12.html ]
More inspiration-- great meeting just now here in Town of Clinton hosted by Betty Olson-- training for http://The99Spring.com -- this issue came up; this event was announced...so....COME OUT TUES.(!)...
[see: http://civic.moveon.org/event/events/event.html?event_id=128545&id ]
Hope to see y'all out there Tues.!...(and again-- pls let us know if you might be able to join us, k?)...
[pass it on]
Joel
845-444-0599
joeltyner@earthlink.net
http://www.JoelforCongress.org (tell your friends-- PayPal link online here!)
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel (260+ now on board online!)
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Two Reasons Why Dutchess County Should Divest from Bank of America:
[Dutchess County now still has a $50 million account with Bank of America (same with JPMC, W-Fargo)]
"Bank Excuses on Foreclosure Growing Stale" by Michael Powell (Nov. 14th)
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/15/nyregion/patience-grows-thin-for-banks-foreclosure-excuses.html
"Eric Schneiderman Is A Big Thorn In Bank of America's Side" [Forbes Aug. 16th]
http://www.forbes.com/sites/halahtouryalai/2011/08/16/eric-schneiderman-is-a-big-thorn-in-bank-of-americas-side/
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From http://www.alternet.org/authors/12015/ ...
Beyond Robo-Signing: 3 Other Ways Bank of America Is Screwing Americans
As outraged as Americans are about robo-signing (and they should be), the use of foreclosure mills doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of Bank of America's dastardly deeds.
By Lauren Kelley
March 30, 2012 |
Few institutions incite the kind of populist anger that Bank of America does, even as the Occupy movement stokes rage at Wall Street in general. And with good reason - in an industry that is known for being corrupt, immoral, and ungrateful leeches of taxpayer dollars, Bank of America stands out. The bank, it seems, is constantly making headlines for some new form of corruption or act of greed that screws consumers while padding its executives' pockets. And it gets away with it every time.
The bank was at the forefront of the dubious practice known as "robo-signing" - hiring third-party companies staffed by underqualified foreclosure "experts" to cut corners during the foreclosure process, processing thousands upon thousands of foreclosures a month and wreaking havoc on homeowners' lives.
But as outraged as Americans are about robo-signing (and they should be, especially since the big banks continued to use the practice long after they agreed to stop), the use of foreclosure mills doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of Bank of America's dastardly deeds. As Matt Taibbi writes in his devastating piece about Bank of America in this month's Rolling Stone:
[H]ere's how seriously fucked the financial markets are: Even the most vocal critics of Bank of America consider the mass, factory-style production of tens of thousands of fake legal documents per month not that big a deal. "Robo-signing is like focusing on Bernie Madoff's accountant," quips April Charney, a well-known foreclosure lawyer who has spent large chunks of the past two decades in battle with Bank of America.
Robo-signing is not the disease - it's a symptom of Bank of America's entire attitude toward the law.
Indeed, the bank is screwing Americans is so many ways that robo-signing, awful as it is, is but a drop in the bucket. Below are several examples (among many) of how Bank of America is hurting consumers while continuing to dole out plenty of dough in executive bonuses and compensation.
1. Siccing collections agencies on people who are not in debt
Thanks to Bank of America, we now know that there's something more maddening and nightmarish than being hounded by debt collectors: being hounded by debt collectors when you don't owe anything.
A la their infamous illegal foreclosure problem, big banks are in the practice hiring third-party companies to handle debt collection for them. That would be all fine and well if the banks took care to pass on accurate documentation about their customers. But they don't. American Banker reports this week on a woman named Karen Stevens, who's spent the past three years fighting off a collection agency that Bank of America hired to collect $1,900 in debt - debt that Stevens has long since paid off. Stevens was only able to put an end to the fiasco by hiring a lawyer and suing the collection agency.
Stevens' case appears to be an example of what happens when banks sell batches of accounts without sufficiently scrubbing them of errors and discrepancies ( see related story). Such oversights are drawing into collections quagmires an unknown number of consumers who owe nothing, or for whom debt records are incomplete or nonexistent. For banks, it's a problem that threatens to spark a legal or regulatory backlash or to do further damage to already tarnished reputations.
Aside from getting this work (messily) off their plates, the advantage for Bank of America in doing business this way is that they don't have to deal with their clients' lawsuits when they get screwed over. Blame it on the third-party guy!
2. Sneakily ratcheting up fees on the 99%
As I wrote earlier this month , Bank of America is one of the mega banks that's quietly ratcheting up fees, especially for its lower-income customers, to compensate for new regulations that were designed to protect those very individuals.
This is an especially ballsy move for Bank of America, since it was BofA's proposed $5 monthly debit card fee that incited so much consumer outrage last fall. And yet, mere months later, the bank has announced a fee "overhaul" that will result in customers paying up to $25 per month for a basic checking account.
Maddeningly, the bank is most focused on increasing fees for low-income consumers - Americans who may have trouble maintaining a minimum account balance or who do not have multiple bank services, such as a mortgage. In addition, these customers may soon have less banking opportunities in general, as Bank of America, among other big banks, plans to shift its resources to cater more to "up markets" that make the bank more money than less-wealthy communities.
3. Exploiting the unemployed to rake in fees
When South Carolina signed a deal with Bank of America to distribute unemployment benefits via prepaid debit cards, chances are the state was not actively trying to screw its unemployed citizens. But that is exactly what happened, because Bank of America took advantage of its contract with the state to exploit unemployed South Carolinians by charging many of them hefty fees to access their benefits.
Huffington Post's Janell Ross reported late last year that citizens who live in towns without Bank of America branches - and there are many such individuals in South Carolina - are forced to either drive to another town to access their benefits (something many cannot afford to do) or pay a fee for withdrawing money from a non-BofA ATM. One woman profiled in Ross' article, Shawna Busby, had to choose between making a 100-mile round trip drive to Columbia to access her benefits or pay up. Busby estimated that she had paid $350 in fees to withdraw the benefits that she was legally owed - money she desperately needs for her family since she is, of course, unemployed.
---
Of course, these are only a few of the ways Bank of America is screwing over the citizens whose taxpayers kept the bank afloat during the financial crisis the bank helped create. And it is only small consolation that BofA claims to be suffering financially these days, because, as Taibbi notes, the bank seems to have plenty of money to go around for bonuses and compensation:
Bank of America didn't pay a dime in federal taxes last year. Or the year before. In fact, they got a $1 billion refund last year. They claimed it was because they had pretax losses of $5.4 billion in 2010. They paid out $35 billion in bonuses and compensation that year. You do the math.
As for the $26 billion settlement that Bank of America and other big banks got slapped with? It let the banks off the hook for its robo-signing misadventures, and may not even be properly enforced by the government. Even if it is, it will be "woefully inadequate to address the wider fraud that went on in creating and pooling mortgages."
On that note, I leave you with three simple words: Move. Your. Money.
Lauren Kelley is an associate editor at AlterNet and a freelance writer and editor who has contributed to Change.org, The L Magazine and Time Out New York. She lives in Brooklyn. Follow her on Twitter here.
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[recall below as well]
Still pinchin' myself-- we actually won some bipartisan support (thx to activists below) Thurs. night at the Dutchess County Legislature's Budget, Finance, and Personnel Committee meeting-- for the resolution drafted by yours truly (co-sponsored by Conservative Co. Leg. Jim Doxsey)-- calling on the Dutchess County Finance Commissioner to re-evaluate the banks and financial institutions with which Dutchess County does business-- from GOP Co. Leg.'s Alan Surman (R-Dover) and John Forman (R-Beacon)!...
[view webcast of Thurs. night BFP Committee mtg. here: http://www.totalwebcasting.com/live/dutchess/ ]
Dutchess currently still has a $50 million account with Bank of America, another $50 million account with JPMorgan Chase, and another $50 million account with Wells Fargo now, unfortunately...
Note re: Borchert/GOP argument against this-- 'tis a false one-- see list of banks below county does business with-- and-- consider how Albany County moved a $90 million account from BofA to M & T!...
[resol.-- http://www.dutchessny.gov/CountyGov/Departments/Legislature/ResolutionsPDF/2012103.pdf ;
full agenda here: http://www.co.dutchess.ny.us/CountyGov/Departments/Legislature/CLagenda.htm ]
Kudos to Community Voices Heard's Steve Meddaugh, Edgar Gomez, and Mae Parker-Harris, together with New York Communities for Change's Harold Miller-- for leading rallies/marches of dozens of their supporters in Poughkeepsie at Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase branches locally (I was able to help lead cheering inside BofA branch before having to run off to join 4:30 pm Environmental Committee mtg.); many attendees also spoke eloquently, articulately, and passionately during the beginning of the Budget, Finance, and Personnel Committee mtg. as well-- including Russell Bimbo and Joe of http://www.OccupyPoughkeepsie.org others there in support included Maya Acevedo Casilda, James Tremblay, Jared Keasbey, Ryan Simpson, Alexander Key, and many from the Meddaugh clan-- great inspirational work!...
[important-- call Steve M. at 337-7239 to help him launch new Move Your Money Dutchess effort(!)...(aimed at getting each/every one of our county's 22 municipalities to move their money, too;
see http://www.MoveYourMoneyProject.org national effort; businesses, organizations, churches as well]
Kudos in particular to New York Communities for Change's Harold Miller for his effectiveness and success on this issue already-- across the state, Albany County, the City of Binghamton, town of Ithaca and villages of Hempstead and Freeport have voted to divest from irresponsible banking institutions like JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo. [see: http://www.nycommunities.org/taxonomy/term/2 ;
http://www.bizjournals.com/albany/print-edition/2011/06/10/albany-county-legislators-want-to.html ]
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From http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/2012/April/13/DCL_bank_forcl-13Apr12.html ...
Dutchess lawmakers reject proposal to transfer funds from banks with high foreclosure rates
POUGHKEEPSIE - Despite the urging of several Dutchess County residents to pull millions of county dollars from large banks that give homeowners little slack in foreclosure proceedings, the legislature's Budget and Finance Committee did not move in that direction.
A vote on a resolution urging the county finance commissioner to consider changing banks deadlocked in a tie vote of six to six, meaning the measure died.
Legislation sponsor Joel Tyner, a Democrat, urged his colleagues to support the shift to smaller more local banks.
"A very small thing that we can do today is to say it is a privilege to do business with Dutchess County. You just can't be any old bank and shaft over homeowners and kill our communities and continue to get our business," Tyner said...
Residents who spoke, told lawmakers bank foreclosures are resulting in boarded up homes that are killing neighborhoods
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From http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/2012/April/09/DC_bank_div-09Apr12.html (WAMC Mon.):
Resolution would have Dutchess divest from banks that foreclose
POUGHKEEPSIE - Two Dutchess County legislators are proposing the county close its accounts with three large banks because of their foreclosure practices.
Lawmakers Joel Tyner and James Doxsey would like the county to pull its $50 million accounts from each bank - Bank of America, Wells Fargo and JP Morgan Chase - and place the money in other financial institutions.
Tyner said those three banks are not giving delinquent mortgage holders much slack in their payments.
"There are literally hundreds of different homes you can find on the county clerk's website that are in the process of being foreclosed by those three banks and those are the three most notoriously irresponsible financial institutions in the country," he said.
Tyner said Albany County recently closed a $90 million account with Bank of America for similar reasons and similar divestitures have been undertaken in Freeport, Hempstead and Ithaca.
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Already here across the state, Albany County, the town of Ithaca and villages of Hempstead and Freeport have voted to divest from irresponsible banking institutions like JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo. [see: http://www.nycommunities.org/taxonomy/term/2 ;
http://www.bizjournals.com/albany/print-edition/2011/06/10/albany-county-legislators-want-to.html ]
Recall as well-- the Northern Dutchess Alliance's Blueprint for Economic Development called for local financial institutions to be held more accountable for their commitment/investment in our communities (or lack thereof).
[see: http://www.northerndutchess.org/images/NDABlueprintWeb.pdf ]
Fact: According to our County Clerk Kendall's own website (searchable database there), there are literally hundreds of homes in process of foreclosure by Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, or Wells Fargo; see:
http://www.co.dutchess.ny.us/CountyGov/Departments/CountyClerk/12976.htm .
Also see:
"Watch Us Move Our Millions" by Rebecca Leisher (in Yes magazine)
http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/9-strategies-to-end-corporate-rule/watch-us-move-our-millions
"Members of the Albany County Legislature are calling for the county to pull its money from Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase. The 25 legislators signed a proclamation urging John McPhillips, commissioner of management and budget, to close the county's $90 million account from Bank of America and to discontinue procurement cards with JPMorgan Chase. The legislators are concerned about the number of foreclosures in the county, and noted that both banks have a significant number of area homes on the delinquency list. The proclamation states that Bank of America has 465 delinquencies in the region and JP Morgan has 316 area homes in danger of foreclosure. The proclamation also says the banks have "demonstrated a lack of willingness to engage in good-faith efforts" to modify loans and help people keep their homes. The effort, headed by county legislators Norma Chapman, Doug Bullock and Timothy Nichols, is part of a statewide campaign by NY Communities for Change."
[from "Albany County Legislators Want to Close Bank of America, JPMorgan Accounts" June 10th
http://www.bizjournals.com/albany/print-edition/2011/06/10/albany-county-legislators-want-to.html ]
Note-- already here across the state the town of Ithaca and villages of Hempstead and Freeport have voted to divest from irresponsible banking institutions like Bank of America (in those three cases, it was JP Morgan Chase)-- see much more on this here-- http://www.nycommunities.org/taxonomy/term/2 ;
http://www.alternet.org/economy/150387/2_3rds_of_us_corporations_pay_zero_federal_taxes%3A_us_uncut_movement_builds_to_make_them_pay_up/ ; http://www.USUncut.org (Harold Miller's work!).
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[text of Tyner/Doxsey resolution that almost got out of Budget, Finance, Personnel Committee Thurs.]
WHEREAS, Dutchess County now has $50 million accounts each with Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo- banks widely reported as responsible for mortgage fraud and our economic collapse, and
WHEREAS, former Dutchess County Executive William Steinhaus sent our County Legislature a letter December 15th stating that, "Foreclosure rates in Dutchess County are at record numbers; there are a total of over 4,000 foreclosures in Dutchess over just the last three-year period," and currently in Dutchess County there are 414 home bankruptcy listings, 98 short sales, 61 foreclosures, 43 preforeclosures, and 11 sheriff sales at Foreclosures.com, and
WHEREAS, last June 25 members of the Albany County Legislature signed a proclamation calling for the county to pull its $90 million account from Bank of America and to discontinue procurement cards with JPMorgan Chase because at that time Bank of America had 465 delinquencies in the region and JP Morgan had 316 area homes in danger of foreclosure, and those banks had "demonstrated a lack of willingness to engage in good-faith efforts" to modify loans and help people keep their homes, as here in Dutchess County; several months later Albany County's $90 million account with Bank of America was closed, and
WHEREAS, the municipal boards of Hempstead, Freeport, and Ithaca have all voted for the same reason over the last year to divest from irresponsible financial institutions such as Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo; even the Northern Dutchess Alliance's "Blueprint for Economic Development" strongly recommended holding local financial institutions more publicly accountable for their commitment/investment (or lack thereof) in our local communities, and
WHEREAS, last year the City of San Jose moved nearly $1 billion from Bank of America because of the bank's high record of home foreclosures; City Council members linked foreclosures to lost tax revenues and cuts to jobs and services, and urged other U.S. cities to follow San Jose's example, and last November the Seattle City Council unanimously passed a resolution to review its banking and investment practices "to ensure that public funds are invested in responsible financial institutions that support our community," and
WHEREAS, officials in Portland, Oregon, Los Angeles, and New York City are looking to follow as well, and congregations in the California interfaith coalition LA Voice vowed to divest $2 million from Wells Fargo and Bank of America, ending a 200-year relationship with the big banks; the Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in East San Jose, Calif., pulled $3 million out of Bank of America and reinvested the funds into Micro Branch, a division of Self-Help Federal Credit Union designed to assist underserved communities, and therefore be it
RESOLVED, that the Dutchess County Legislature requests that the Dutchess County Commissioner of Finance divest Dutchess County funds from Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, and Wells Fargo, thereby ending the current $150,000,000 worth of county funds kept in those financial institutions, and find more responsible banks to deposit those monies, and be it further
RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be sent to the Dutchess County Executive and the Dutchess County Commissioner of Finance.
##############################################
Supporting documentation:
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Executive Order No. 2, 2011
Dated: October 17, 2011
[signed by Dutchess County Executive William Steinhaus]
Pursuant to Section 3.02 (g) of the Dutchess County Charter, I hereby designate the following banks and trust companies for the deposit of moneys received by the Commissioner of Finance at the maximum amount set forth after the name of each bank or trust company:
HSBC Bank USA, N.A. Poughkeepsie, NY................$50,000,000
JP Morgan Chase Poughkeepsie, NY........................$50,000,000
Bank of America, Poughkeepsie, NY..........................$50,000,000
Wells Fargo (formerly Wachovia Bank, N.A.)
Poughkeepsie, NY.........................................................$50,000,000
Key Bank of New York, N.A., Poughkeepsie, NY.....$20,000,000
Bank of Millbrook, Millbrook, NY...................................$5,000,000
(merged with Stissing National Bank)
Manufacturers and Traders Trust Co. (M & T)..........$20,000,000
Poughkeepsie, NY
Orange County Trust Company, Fishkill, NY.............$5,000,000
Citizens Bank, Albany, NY..........................................$20,000,000
TD Bank, Poughkeepsie, NY.....................................$50,000,000
Citibank NA, Harrison, NY.........................................$50,000,000
Pursuant to Section 11 of the General Municipal Law, the Dutchess County Commissioner of Finance is authorized to invest in time deposit accounts, certificates of deposit or repurchase agreements of the above designated depositories or repurchase agreements of the Merrill Lynch Flexicash Program.
Pursuant to Section 212 of the County Law, the interest received on moneys deposited in time deposit accounts, certificates of deposit, or repurchase agreements of the above designated depositories shall be the prevailing rate paid by such designated depository, payable on such dates as agreed upon between the depository and the Dutchess County Commissioner of Finance.
This Executive Order No. 2 of 2011 supersedes Executive Order No. 1 of 2011 issued January 2, 2011.
Please let us know asap if you might be able to come out to join us tomorrow Tuesday (Apr. 17th) at 4 pm-- for our Second Annual Tax Day Rally to Make Bank of America Pay Their Fair Share!...
[thx to Rev. Tama Sis Kaya Bell for creating Facebook event here:
http://www.facebook.com/joel.tyner#!/events/403301039688759/ ]
Recall-- last Tax Day (Apr. 18, 2011) together with Ulster MoveOn's Linda Abbott and Barbara Upton, we mobilized 60 folks from all over the Hudson Valley to come out to our First Annual Rally to Make Bank of America Pay Their Fair Share; see: http://usuncut.org/actions/239 ; let's make Tues. bigger(!):
http://www.facebook.com/events/202668686424445/ ; Occupy folks-- let's go-- c'mon; all out Tuesday!...
[taxes are due Tues. Apr. 17th this year; for more on this see:
http://www.npr.org/2012/04/13/150549181/why-2012s-tax-day-falls-on-april-17 ]
Recall Matt Taibbi's "Bank of America: Too Crooked to Fail" from last month in Rolling Stone:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/bank-of-america-too-crooked-to-fail-20120314 ; also:
http://akamat.wordpress.com/2012/04/11/matt-taibbi-on-bank-of-america-occupy-wall-street/http://www.cpa-connecticut.com/blog/?p=5233
[BofA didn't pay any federal taxes last year; got $1 billion tax break-- after getting $45 billion bailout!]
Thanks again much to http://www.OccupyPoughkeepsie.org for inspiring us to move forward on this; many times last fall Occupy Poughkeepsie rallies and marches stopped in front of JPMorgan Chase on Main Street in Poughkeepsie; I still recall how Russell Bimbo, Kyle Van Steenburgh, and Brady Masse8y from Occupy Poughkeepsie also joined us for rallies organized by yours truly last year in front of Bank of America on Market St./Poughkeepsie-- let's ramp it up party peoples!...
[click on these two links for other recent coverage of our work on this issue:
http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/2012/April/13/DCL_bank_forcl-13Apr12.html ;
http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/2012/April/09/DC_bank_div-09Apr12.html ]
More inspiration-- great meeting just now here in Town of Clinton hosted by Betty Olson-- training for http://The99Spring.com -- this issue came up; this event was announced...so....COME OUT TUES.(!)...
[see: http://civic.moveon.org/event/events/event.html?event_id=128545&id ]
Hope to see y'all out there Tues.!...(and again-- pls let us know if you might be able to join us, k?)...
[pass it on]
Joel
845-444-0599
joeltyner@earthlink.net
http://www.JoelforCongress.org (tell your friends-- PayPal link online here!)
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel (260+ now on board online!)
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Two Reasons Why Dutchess County Should Divest from Bank of America:
[Dutchess County now still has a $50 million account with Bank of America (same with JPMC, W-Fargo)]
"Bank Excuses on Foreclosure Growing Stale" by Michael Powell (Nov. 14th)
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/15/nyregion/patience-grows-thin-for-banks-foreclosure-excuses.html
"Eric Schneiderman Is A Big Thorn In Bank of America's Side" [Forbes Aug. 16th]
http://www.forbes.com/sites/halahtouryalai/2011/08/16/eric-schneiderman-is-a-big-thorn-in-bank-of-americas-side/
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From http://www.alternet.org/authors/12015/ ...
Beyond Robo-Signing: 3 Other Ways Bank of America Is Screwing Americans
As outraged as Americans are about robo-signing (and they should be), the use of foreclosure mills doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of Bank of America's dastardly deeds.
By Lauren Kelley
March 30, 2012 |
Few institutions incite the kind of populist anger that Bank of America does, even as the Occupy movement stokes rage at Wall Street in general. And with good reason - in an industry that is known for being corrupt, immoral, and ungrateful leeches of taxpayer dollars, Bank of America stands out. The bank, it seems, is constantly making headlines for some new form of corruption or act of greed that screws consumers while padding its executives' pockets. And it gets away with it every time.
The bank was at the forefront of the dubious practice known as "robo-signing" - hiring third-party companies staffed by underqualified foreclosure "experts" to cut corners during the foreclosure process, processing thousands upon thousands of foreclosures a month and wreaking havoc on homeowners' lives.
But as outraged as Americans are about robo-signing (and they should be, especially since the big banks continued to use the practice long after they agreed to stop), the use of foreclosure mills doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of Bank of America's dastardly deeds. As Matt Taibbi writes in his devastating piece about Bank of America in this month's Rolling Stone:
[H]ere's how seriously fucked the financial markets are: Even the most vocal critics of Bank of America consider the mass, factory-style production of tens of thousands of fake legal documents per month not that big a deal. "Robo-signing is like focusing on Bernie Madoff's accountant," quips April Charney, a well-known foreclosure lawyer who has spent large chunks of the past two decades in battle with Bank of America.
Robo-signing is not the disease - it's a symptom of Bank of America's entire attitude toward the law.
Indeed, the bank is screwing Americans is so many ways that robo-signing, awful as it is, is but a drop in the bucket. Below are several examples (among many) of how Bank of America is hurting consumers while continuing to dole out plenty of dough in executive bonuses and compensation.
1. Siccing collections agencies on people who are not in debt
Thanks to Bank of America, we now know that there's something more maddening and nightmarish than being hounded by debt collectors: being hounded by debt collectors when you don't owe anything.
A la their infamous illegal foreclosure problem, big banks are in the practice hiring third-party companies to handle debt collection for them. That would be all fine and well if the banks took care to pass on accurate documentation about their customers. But they don't. American Banker reports this week on a woman named Karen Stevens, who's spent the past three years fighting off a collection agency that Bank of America hired to collect $1,900 in debt - debt that Stevens has long since paid off. Stevens was only able to put an end to the fiasco by hiring a lawyer and suing the collection agency.
Stevens' case appears to be an example of what happens when banks sell batches of accounts without sufficiently scrubbing them of errors and discrepancies ( see related story). Such oversights are drawing into collections quagmires an unknown number of consumers who owe nothing, or for whom debt records are incomplete or nonexistent. For banks, it's a problem that threatens to spark a legal or regulatory backlash or to do further damage to already tarnished reputations.
Aside from getting this work (messily) off their plates, the advantage for Bank of America in doing business this way is that they don't have to deal with their clients' lawsuits when they get screwed over. Blame it on the third-party guy!
2. Sneakily ratcheting up fees on the 99%
As I wrote earlier this month , Bank of America is one of the mega banks that's quietly ratcheting up fees, especially for its lower-income customers, to compensate for new regulations that were designed to protect those very individuals.
This is an especially ballsy move for Bank of America, since it was BofA's proposed $5 monthly debit card fee that incited so much consumer outrage last fall. And yet, mere months later, the bank has announced a fee "overhaul" that will result in customers paying up to $25 per month for a basic checking account.
Maddeningly, the bank is most focused on increasing fees for low-income consumers - Americans who may have trouble maintaining a minimum account balance or who do not have multiple bank services, such as a mortgage. In addition, these customers may soon have less banking opportunities in general, as Bank of America, among other big banks, plans to shift its resources to cater more to "up markets" that make the bank more money than less-wealthy communities.
3. Exploiting the unemployed to rake in fees
When South Carolina signed a deal with Bank of America to distribute unemployment benefits via prepaid debit cards, chances are the state was not actively trying to screw its unemployed citizens. But that is exactly what happened, because Bank of America took advantage of its contract with the state to exploit unemployed South Carolinians by charging many of them hefty fees to access their benefits.
Huffington Post's Janell Ross reported late last year that citizens who live in towns without Bank of America branches - and there are many such individuals in South Carolina - are forced to either drive to another town to access their benefits (something many cannot afford to do) or pay a fee for withdrawing money from a non-BofA ATM. One woman profiled in Ross' article, Shawna Busby, had to choose between making a 100-mile round trip drive to Columbia to access her benefits or pay up. Busby estimated that she had paid $350 in fees to withdraw the benefits that she was legally owed - money she desperately needs for her family since she is, of course, unemployed.
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Of course, these are only a few of the ways Bank of America is screwing over the citizens whose taxpayers kept the bank afloat during the financial crisis the bank helped create. And it is only small consolation that BofA claims to be suffering financially these days, because, as Taibbi notes, the bank seems to have plenty of money to go around for bonuses and compensation:
Bank of America didn't pay a dime in federal taxes last year. Or the year before. In fact, they got a $1 billion refund last year. They claimed it was because they had pretax losses of $5.4 billion in 2010. They paid out $35 billion in bonuses and compensation that year. You do the math.
As for the $26 billion settlement that Bank of America and other big banks got slapped with? It let the banks off the hook for its robo-signing misadventures, and may not even be properly enforced by the government. Even if it is, it will be "woefully inadequate to address the wider fraud that went on in creating and pooling mortgages."
On that note, I leave you with three simple words: Move. Your. Money.
Lauren Kelley is an associate editor at AlterNet and a freelance writer and editor who has contributed to Change.org, The L Magazine and Time Out New York. She lives in Brooklyn. Follow her on Twitter here.
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[recall below as well]
Still pinchin' myself-- we actually won some bipartisan support (thx to activists below) Thurs. night at the Dutchess County Legislature's Budget, Finance, and Personnel Committee meeting-- for the resolution drafted by yours truly (co-sponsored by Conservative Co. Leg. Jim Doxsey)-- calling on the Dutchess County Finance Commissioner to re-evaluate the banks and financial institutions with which Dutchess County does business-- from GOP Co. Leg.'s Alan Surman (R-Dover) and John Forman (R-Beacon)!...
[view webcast of Thurs. night BFP Committee mtg. here: http://www.totalwebcasting.com/live/dutchess/ ]
Dutchess currently still has a $50 million account with Bank of America, another $50 million account with JPMorgan Chase, and another $50 million account with Wells Fargo now, unfortunately...
Note re: Borchert/GOP argument against this-- 'tis a false one-- see list of banks below county does business with-- and-- consider how Albany County moved a $90 million account from BofA to M & T!...
[resol.-- http://www.dutchessny.gov/CountyGov/Departments/Legislature/ResolutionsPDF/2012103.pdf ;
full agenda here: http://www.co.dutchess.ny.us/CountyGov/Departments/Legislature/CLagenda.htm ]
Kudos to Community Voices Heard's Steve Meddaugh, Edgar Gomez, and Mae Parker-Harris, together with New York Communities for Change's Harold Miller-- for leading rallies/marches of dozens of their supporters in Poughkeepsie at Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase branches locally (I was able to help lead cheering inside BofA branch before having to run off to join 4:30 pm Environmental Committee mtg.); many attendees also spoke eloquently, articulately, and passionately during the beginning of the Budget, Finance, and Personnel Committee mtg. as well-- including Russell Bimbo and Joe of http://www.OccupyPoughkeepsie.org others there in support included Maya Acevedo Casilda, James Tremblay, Jared Keasbey, Ryan Simpson, Alexander Key, and many from the Meddaugh clan-- great inspirational work!...
[important-- call Steve M. at 337-7239 to help him launch new Move Your Money Dutchess effort(!)...(aimed at getting each/every one of our county's 22 municipalities to move their money, too;
see http://www.MoveYourMoneyProject.org national effort; businesses, organizations, churches as well]
Kudos in particular to New York Communities for Change's Harold Miller for his effectiveness and success on this issue already-- across the state, Albany County, the City of Binghamton, town of Ithaca and villages of Hempstead and Freeport have voted to divest from irresponsible banking institutions like JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo. [see: http://www.nycommunities.org/taxonomy/term/2 ;
http://www.bizjournals.com/albany/print-edition/2011/06/10/albany-county-legislators-want-to.html ]
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From http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/2012/April/13/DCL_bank_forcl-13Apr12.html ...
Dutchess lawmakers reject proposal to transfer funds from banks with high foreclosure rates
POUGHKEEPSIE - Despite the urging of several Dutchess County residents to pull millions of county dollars from large banks that give homeowners little slack in foreclosure proceedings, the legislature's Budget and Finance Committee did not move in that direction.
A vote on a resolution urging the county finance commissioner to consider changing banks deadlocked in a tie vote of six to six, meaning the measure died.
Legislation sponsor Joel Tyner, a Democrat, urged his colleagues to support the shift to smaller more local banks.
"A very small thing that we can do today is to say it is a privilege to do business with Dutchess County. You just can't be any old bank and shaft over homeowners and kill our communities and continue to get our business," Tyner said...
Residents who spoke, told lawmakers bank foreclosures are resulting in boarded up homes that are killing neighborhoods
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From http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/2012/April/09/DC_bank_div-09Apr12.html (WAMC Mon.):
Resolution would have Dutchess divest from banks that foreclose
POUGHKEEPSIE - Two Dutchess County legislators are proposing the county close its accounts with three large banks because of their foreclosure practices.
Lawmakers Joel Tyner and James Doxsey would like the county to pull its $50 million accounts from each bank - Bank of America, Wells Fargo and JP Morgan Chase - and place the money in other financial institutions.
Tyner said those three banks are not giving delinquent mortgage holders much slack in their payments.
"There are literally hundreds of different homes you can find on the county clerk's website that are in the process of being foreclosed by those three banks and those are the three most notoriously irresponsible financial institutions in the country," he said.
Tyner said Albany County recently closed a $90 million account with Bank of America for similar reasons and similar divestitures have been undertaken in Freeport, Hempstead and Ithaca.
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Already here across the state, Albany County, the town of Ithaca and villages of Hempstead and Freeport have voted to divest from irresponsible banking institutions like JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo. [see: http://www.nycommunities.org/taxonomy/term/2 ;
http://www.bizjournals.com/albany/print-edition/2011/06/10/albany-county-legislators-want-to.html ]
Recall as well-- the Northern Dutchess Alliance's Blueprint for Economic Development called for local financial institutions to be held more accountable for their commitment/investment in our communities (or lack thereof).
[see: http://www.northerndutchess.org/images/NDABlueprintWeb.pdf ]
Fact: According to our County Clerk Kendall's own website (searchable database there), there are literally hundreds of homes in process of foreclosure by Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, or Wells Fargo; see:
http://www.co.dutchess.ny.us/CountyGov/Departments/CountyClerk/12976.htm .
Also see:
"Watch Us Move Our Millions" by Rebecca Leisher (in Yes magazine)
http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/9-strategies-to-end-corporate-rule/watch-us-move-our-millions
"Members of the Albany County Legislature are calling for the county to pull its money from Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase. The 25 legislators signed a proclamation urging John McPhillips, commissioner of management and budget, to close the county's $90 million account from Bank of America and to discontinue procurement cards with JPMorgan Chase. The legislators are concerned about the number of foreclosures in the county, and noted that both banks have a significant number of area homes on the delinquency list. The proclamation states that Bank of America has 465 delinquencies in the region and JP Morgan has 316 area homes in danger of foreclosure. The proclamation also says the banks have "demonstrated a lack of willingness to engage in good-faith efforts" to modify loans and help people keep their homes. The effort, headed by county legislators Norma Chapman, Doug Bullock and Timothy Nichols, is part of a statewide campaign by NY Communities for Change."
[from "Albany County Legislators Want to Close Bank of America, JPMorgan Accounts" June 10th
http://www.bizjournals.com/albany/print-edition/2011/06/10/albany-county-legislators-want-to.html ]
Note-- already here across the state the town of Ithaca and villages of Hempstead and Freeport have voted to divest from irresponsible banking institutions like Bank of America (in those three cases, it was JP Morgan Chase)-- see much more on this here-- http://www.nycommunities.org/taxonomy/term/2 ;
http://www.alternet.org/economy/150387/2_3rds_of_us_corporations_pay_zero_federal_taxes%3A_us_uncut_movement_builds_to_make_them_pay_up/ ; http://www.USUncut.org (Harold Miller's work!).
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[text of Tyner/Doxsey resolution that almost got out of Budget, Finance, Personnel Committee Thurs.]
WHEREAS, Dutchess County now has $50 million accounts each with Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo- banks widely reported as responsible for mortgage fraud and our economic collapse, and
WHEREAS, former Dutchess County Executive William Steinhaus sent our County Legislature a letter December 15th stating that, "Foreclosure rates in Dutchess County are at record numbers; there are a total of over 4,000 foreclosures in Dutchess over just the last three-year period," and currently in Dutchess County there are 414 home bankruptcy listings, 98 short sales, 61 foreclosures, 43 preforeclosures, and 11 sheriff sales at Foreclosures.com, and
WHEREAS, last June 25 members of the Albany County Legislature signed a proclamation calling for the county to pull its $90 million account from Bank of America and to discontinue procurement cards with JPMorgan Chase because at that time Bank of America had 465 delinquencies in the region and JP Morgan had 316 area homes in danger of foreclosure, and those banks had "demonstrated a lack of willingness to engage in good-faith efforts" to modify loans and help people keep their homes, as here in Dutchess County; several months later Albany County's $90 million account with Bank of America was closed, and
WHEREAS, the municipal boards of Hempstead, Freeport, and Ithaca have all voted for the same reason over the last year to divest from irresponsible financial institutions such as Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo; even the Northern Dutchess Alliance's "Blueprint for Economic Development" strongly recommended holding local financial institutions more publicly accountable for their commitment/investment (or lack thereof) in our local communities, and
WHEREAS, last year the City of San Jose moved nearly $1 billion from Bank of America because of the bank's high record of home foreclosures; City Council members linked foreclosures to lost tax revenues and cuts to jobs and services, and urged other U.S. cities to follow San Jose's example, and last November the Seattle City Council unanimously passed a resolution to review its banking and investment practices "to ensure that public funds are invested in responsible financial institutions that support our community," and
WHEREAS, officials in Portland, Oregon, Los Angeles, and New York City are looking to follow as well, and congregations in the California interfaith coalition LA Voice vowed to divest $2 million from Wells Fargo and Bank of America, ending a 200-year relationship with the big banks; the Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in East San Jose, Calif., pulled $3 million out of Bank of America and reinvested the funds into Micro Branch, a division of Self-Help Federal Credit Union designed to assist underserved communities, and therefore be it
RESOLVED, that the Dutchess County Legislature requests that the Dutchess County Commissioner of Finance divest Dutchess County funds from Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, and Wells Fargo, thereby ending the current $150,000,000 worth of county funds kept in those financial institutions, and find more responsible banks to deposit those monies, and be it further
RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be sent to the Dutchess County Executive and the Dutchess County Commissioner of Finance.
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Supporting documentation:
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Executive Order No. 2, 2011
Dated: October 17, 2011
[signed by Dutchess County Executive William Steinhaus]
Pursuant to Section 3.02 (g) of the Dutchess County Charter, I hereby designate the following banks and trust companies for the deposit of moneys received by the Commissioner of Finance at the maximum amount set forth after the name of each bank or trust company:
HSBC Bank USA, N.A. Poughkeepsie, NY................$50,000,000
JP Morgan Chase Poughkeepsie, NY........................$50,000,000
Bank of America, Poughkeepsie, NY..........................$50,000,000
Wells Fargo (formerly Wachovia Bank, N.A.)
Poughkeepsie, NY.........................................................$50,000,000
Key Bank of New York, N.A., Poughkeepsie, NY.....$20,000,000
Bank of Millbrook, Millbrook, NY...................................$5,000,000
(merged with Stissing National Bank)
Manufacturers and Traders Trust Co. (M & T)..........$20,000,000
Poughkeepsie, NY
Orange County Trust Company, Fishkill, NY.............$5,000,000
Citizens Bank, Albany, NY..........................................$20,000,000
TD Bank, Poughkeepsie, NY.....................................$50,000,000
Citibank NA, Harrison, NY.........................................$50,000,000
Pursuant to Section 11 of the General Municipal Law, the Dutchess County Commissioner of Finance is authorized to invest in time deposit accounts, certificates of deposit or repurchase agreements of the above designated depositories or repurchase agreements of the Merrill Lynch Flexicash Program.
Pursuant to Section 212 of the County Law, the interest received on moneys deposited in time deposit accounts, certificates of deposit, or repurchase agreements of the above designated depositories shall be the prevailing rate paid by such designated depository, payable on such dates as agreed upon between the depository and the Dutchess County Commissioner of Finance.
This Executive Order No. 2 of 2011 supersedes Executive Order No. 1 of 2011 issued January 2, 2011.
stand up to save Hyde Park Elementary, FDR/Eleanor legacy-- time running out!...
Hi all...
Please let us know asap if you might be able to come out today-- Mon. (Apr. 16th) 4:30 pm to join us-- for our Rally to Save Hyde Park Elementary School!...(on Rt. 9 in Hyde Park next to Regina Coeli Church)...
And-- also come out if you can to speak up on this Tues. (Apr. 17th) at 6 pm Hyde Park School Board mtg. at Haviland Middle School on Haviland Road!...(kudos to effort-- Josh Horton, Cathy Baker, et. al.)...
[this could have been avoided; see http://www.ABetterChoiceforNY.org ; http://www.99PercentNY.org ; bad enough that Smith Elementary & LaGrange Elementary have closed; 1/2 K now in Poughkeepsie]
[recall my Feb. Valley Views Poughkeepsie Journal op-ed-- "Demand Fairness in New York's Budget":
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20120223/OPINION04/302230037/Demand-fairness-New-York-s-budget ; even May 2010 NYTimes editorial warned us Cuomo was going to sell schools out(!):
http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2010/07/thanx-tons-to-all-of-you-who-stood-with.html ]
Recall-- recent Marist/YNN, Siena, Quinnipiac and Hart research polls all show the vast majority of New Yorkers strongly supported maintaining the FULL millionaires tax-- which used to bring in five billion dollars annually from richest 2% of New Yorkers (and now because of Cuomo deal only nets $1.9 B!):
http://www.capitaltonight.com/2011/02/groups-band-together-to-push-millionaires-tax/ ; http://www.hungeractionnys.org/Poeple%20SOS%20release%202011.pdf ;
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=940073&category=state ;
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/financial/2010/08/16/100816ta_talk_surowiecki ...
Pass it on...
Joel
845-444-0599/876-2488
joeltyner@earthlink.net
http://www.JoelforCongress.org
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel (260+)
http://www.DutchessDemocracy.blogspot.com
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[this below from front page of Saturday's paper if you missed it]
Hyde Park Elementary School to shut
District begins shift; school closure may save $1.7 million
1:49 PM, Apr. 14, 2012 |
John Davis
Poughkeepsie Journal
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20120414/NEWS02/304140019/Hyde-Park-Elementary-School-shut
Board meeting
The Hyde Park Board of Education next meets at 6 p.m. April 17 at Haviland Middle School on Haviland Road. More information is available at 845-229-4005 or online at www.hpcsd.org.
Hyde Park Elementary facts
Location: Route 9 in Town of Hyde Park
Student enrollment: 225
Staff: 50
HYDE PARK - The school district will begin planning to shift students and staff with its decision to close Hyde Park Elementary School at the end of the school year.
The Hyde Park Board of Education accepted the recommendation of its School Closing Advisory Committee to shut an elementary school to save $1.7 million in programs and staff.
Superintendent Greer Fischer outlined the committee's findings at the board meeting at Netherwood Elementary School. The board will formally vote Tuesday to close the school when it adopts the 2012-13 budget.
The committee concluded that the district's elementary school students can be moved from five to four buildings and, due to declining district enrollment, still receive a sound education.
"The teaching and learning will not be compromised," Fischer said.
The committee, however, left it to the school board to decide to close either Hyde Park or Ralph R. Smith elementary schools - the two of the district's five elementary schools being considered.
This would be the third public school to be closed in two years. The Poughkeepsie City School District closed W.W. Smith Humanities Magnet School, and Arlington Central School District closed LaGrange Elementary School and then used it for district offices. Poughkeepsie is considering closing Columbus Elementary School to help meet a $2.8 million budget gap for 2012-13.
Decision to close
A majority of the six school board members favored closing Hyde Park Elementary, based in part on its lower enrollment and the greater potential for renting the historic building on Route 9 in the town center. In an informal vote Thursday night, board members Sharon Matyas, Dan Duffy, Doug Hieter and Glenn Watson supported closing Hyde Park Elementary.
Board member Tim Liebrand supported closing Ralph R. Smith due to its central location in the district. Board member Steven Mittermaier did not express a preference.
The board's decision brought tears to the eyes of many Hyde Park Elementary parents attending the meeting. But some of them acknowledged the board had a difficult decision to make due to economic conditions.
Budget gap
The downturn in revenues, particularly state aid, and rising expenses created a budget gap next school year that was initially $10.5 million. The board has closed that gap by planning to cut costs across the district and spending $6 million in fund balance and reserve funds.
The final budget draft of $83.5 million reduces spending next year by 0.29 percent and raises the tax levy 2.68 percent to $52.7 million. This still meets the state 2 percent tax-levy cap when exemptions for capital spending, payments in lieu of taxes and pension contributions are factored in.
The board is opting to use $405,939 of the $605,939 of state aid recently restored by the state Legislature to offset the tax-levy increase, which was 3.53 percent. The other $200,000 will be used to offset district expenses.
The savings resulting from closing the elementary school will come primarily from reducing 16.5 staff positions. This includes a principal, six teaching positions, a librarian, a nurse, a secretary, three custodians and two cafeteria staff.
"The major part of the savings are in the administrative and managerial operation of the building," Fischer said.
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[again-- in case you missed it-- my op-ed Valley Views from Feb. 22nd Poughkeepsie Journal]
Demand fairness in New York's budget
11:10 PM, Feb. 22, 2012 |
Written by
Joel Tyner
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20120223/OPINION04/302230037/Demand-fairness-New-York-s-budget
Joel Tyner is a Dutchess County legislator for District 11, Clinton/Rhinebeck. He is also a Democratic candidate for the 20th Congressional District.
Resources
See http://www.DutchessDemocracy.blogspot.com ; http://www.JoelforCongress.org - call us at 845-444-0599 to get involved.
Also see http://www.ABetterChoiceforNY.org
Here are 10 reasons to come out to our "A Better Choice Budget for New York" forum with New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness Executive Director Ron Deutsch, Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at Rhinebeck Town Hall at 80 East Market St. Deutsch will also be speaking the same evening at 7:30 p.m. at the Christ Episcopal Church in Poughkeepsie on 20 Carroll St.
1. The Better Choice Budget Coalition sensibly calls for a return to the full millionaires tax and closing one billion dollars' worth of corporate tax loopholes annually - coalition members include the New York State Alliance for Retired Americans, Statewide Senior Action Council of NYS, NYS Coalition for the Aging, New York State Library Association, Interfaith Alliance of NYS, Interfaith Impact of NYS, NYS Episcopal Public Policy Network, Alliance for Quality Education, Environmental Advocates of NY, Center for Independence of the Disabled of New York, NYS AFL-CIO, CSEA, NYSUT, PEF, AFSCME, New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services, New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness, NYS Community Action Association, New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness, Community Voices Heard, Fiscal Policy Institute, and the Hunger Action Network of New York State.
[see http://www.ABetterChoiceforNY.org ]
2. Fact: New York's millionaires tax used to bring in $4.6 billion in revenue annually; because of December's tax deal, it now only brings in $1.9 billion in revenue - creating a $2.7 billion hole in the state budget ( http://www.FiscalPolicy.org ).
3. Meanwhile, over the last two years alone $2.7 billion has been cut from state aid to schools - so Hyde Park Elementary School may close, LaGrange and Smith Elementary schools already closed, and the City of Poughkeepsie has cut back to half-day kindergarten - and Gov. Andrew Cuomo has proposed to add only $805 million in state aid to schools this year while proposing to cut $99 million from early childhood intervention services over the next five years.
4. Sixty-three percent of school districts increased their class size because of these budget cuts, 36 percent cut summer schools, 22 percent cut art classes, 14 percent cut music classes, and 17 percent cut honors or advanced placement courses ( http://www.AQENY.org ).
5. The richest 1 percent of New York state households increased their share of all income statewide from 10 percent in 1980 to 35 percent in 2007, and the 67 billionaires who call New York home have a combined net worth over $234.9 billion ( http://www.99PercentNY.org ).
6. Recent Marist/YNN, Siena, Quinnipiac and Hart research polls all show the vast majority of New Yorkers strongly supported maintaining the full millionaires tax.
[see: http://www.capitaltonight.com/2011/02/groups-band-together-to-push-millionaires-tax/ ; http://www.hungeractionnys.org/Poeple%20SOS%20release%202011.pdf ;
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=940073&category=state ;
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/financial/2010/08/16/100816ta_talk_surowiecki ]
7. As the Poughkeepsie Journal reported ("Seniors pay more under EPIC rules" Feb. 4), because of $36 million cut in state funding last year for the state's Elderly Prescription Insurance Coverage (EPIC) program, "starting in January EPIC participants have had to pay between $3 and $20 for a prescription, depending on the overall cost of the medication; now New York doesn't subsidize participants until they reach the coverage gap of $2,930, also known as the 'doughnut hole' - until that time, seniors pay 25 percent of the cost of the drug."
https://www.change.org/petitions/governor-cuomo-and-the-new-york-state-legislature-fully-fund-epic-elderly-prescription-insurance-coverage-program
8. The State University of New York's funding has been cut by $1.4 billion over the last four years - over $300 million last year alone. SUNY's total operating budget has already been reduced by over 35 percent over the last five years ( http://www.SaveOurSUNY.org ).
9. As Comptroller Tom DiNapoli has recently stated, "defined contribution plans are not adequate for retirement security for public or private workers; study after study has shown that defined benefit plans cost less in the long run than 401(k) style plans and perform better" - more workers should have defined-benefit pensions - we shouldn't kill what's left of the middle class by attacking public employee pensions.
[ http://www.osc.state.ny.us/press/releases/feb12/021312.htm ]
10. Finally, large multinational corporations that do business in New York should pay taxes; some of the worst corporate tax dodgers are Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, Travelers Insurance, Verizon and Goldman Sachs. We need to level the playing field so that small businesses are not left holding the bag while big businesses are allowed to avail themselves of billions of dollars in corporate tax subsidies and loopholes - loopholes should be closed for corporate tax evaders, real estate partnership abuses should end, and New York needs to "expand the nonresident personal income tax to include income received from hedge fund management fees," as Gov. David Paterson included in his 2010 Executive Budget proposal.
[ http://www.99PercentNY.org ]
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From: Kat Fisher
Hudson Valley Organizer
Alliance for Quality Education
94 Central Avenue
Albany, NY 12206
585-269-8605
THE 2012-13 STATE BUDGET The Governor's proposed budget committed to increase school funding by $805 million this year, but diverted $250 million into competitive grants. Our focus this year has been to redirect the competitive grants to classroom aid, ensure that high-need schools are prioritized, and get the state to invest in pre-kindergarten. Voting on the final budget is expected to begin on Wednesday but it appears that:
* Nearly $200 million of the proposed competitive grant funds will be restored to classroom aid
* High need districts will be prioritized
* The Legislature rejected cuts to early intervention services for children with special needs as well as to special education for pre-school children.
* The budget agreement includes changes to pre-k that will prevent back door cuts in pre-k.
OUR ADVOCACY MATTERS If not for the large numbers of advocates traveling to Albany in January, February and March to speak up for our children there may not have been such a response from our elected officials. (AQE and allies organized these trips)
$805 MILLION DOESN'T FIX $2.7 BILLION IN SCHOOL CUTS Due to $2.7 billion in state budget cuts to schools, many children have lost college prep and Advanced Placement Courses, Career & Technical Education, arts, music, sports, tutoring, foreign languages, high school electives, after school programs, librarians, guidance counselors and more. Some schools have even cut kindergarten to half-day. State budget cuts were two to three times as large per pupil in poor districts as in wealthy districts. Even with this year's $805 million restoration many school districts are still going to have to make painful cuts.
WHAT NOW? The State Budget will be voted on this week. It is critically important that all of us who are dedicated to improving our public schools and protecting our children's future continue to raise our voices. In order to do this we need to:
* Stay involved and get others involved by:
o Signing up for regular updates http://www.aqeny.org/
o Speaking out at community meetings.
o Holding press conferences in your community.
o Submitting opinion editorials and letters to the editor to local papers.
* Speak truth to power:
o Because of the grassroots advocacy efforts of parents, students, teachers, administrators and school board members, high need districts have been prioritized and classroom funding has been prioritized over competitive grants.
o This state budget is inadequate to address the growing education crisis in New York State. Tell the stories of the types of cuts that your schools are still considering
Budget update: Votes to begin on Wednesday and expected to be final this week
1- $805 million restoration to public schools
2- Nearly $200 million of the competitive grants will be redirected to the classroom
3- High needs districts are prioritized
4- The Legislature rejected cuts to early intervention services for children with special needs as well as to special education for pre-school children.
5- The budget agreement includes changes to pre-k that will prevent back door cuts in pre-k
Advocacy works. There is power in numbers. But unfortunately, because the total $805 million restoration will not fill the $2.7 billion hole and our children will lose more.
Schools are still facing layoffs, school closing, essential program losses, increasing class sizes and massive reorganizations.
Without the efforts of AQE and its allies, the modified Millionaires' Tax that was passed in December would not have been won. Without this increase in state revenue, any increase in education money could have never been funded.
AQE organized students, parents, educators and community members from across the state to speak up for our schools and our children's future. As a result of these efforts we expect, nearly $200m of the competitive grant money will redirected to classrooms, high needs districts will prioritized.
We worked with both sides of aisle in our legislature, both Republicans and Democrats, to fight for quality public schools so that every child has an opportunity to learn. We'd like to thank the Legislature for restoring $805 million to education, moving a majority of the competitive grant funding into the classroom where it belongs and for rejecting cuts to early intervention services for children with special needs and to special education pre-school children- cuts that would have resulted in more cuts to K-12 education since the school district would have had to pay for those cuts- and for making changes to preventing back door cuts to pre-k.
But unfortunately, this year's budget isn't going to prevent more cuts to our schools. The $805 million restoration will not fill the $2.7 billion hole, created by two consecutive years of state budget cuts and our children will lose more. Prior cuts have cost our children teachers and quality programs such as college prep and Advanced Placement Courses, Career & Technical Education, arts, music, sports, tutoring, foreign languages, high school electives, after school programs, librarians, guidance counselors and more. Some schools have even cut kindergarten to half-day.
Under Governor Cuomo's leadership our state moving in the wrong direction, in regards to education. Our schools are getting worse, not better.
Now we'll hear from our speakers about how state budget has and is impacting our schools.
The budget fixes the Maintenance of Effort issue (districts had to maintain the same number of students served in the year before, to not lose any funding) which penalized many districts for fluctuations in enrollment and provided a disincentive for expanding pre-k services.
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Check out these facts from Ron Deutsch of http://www.ABetterChoiceforNY.org :
New York is #1 in the U.S.A. in income inequality.
Over the last 30 years, the income of the top 1% of New Yorkers has gone up 500%, while the income of the bottom 50% has gone down 13%
New York has lost over 500,000 jobs during the Great Recession.
One in three New Yorkers are poor or near-poor.
Food stamp use has increased by 1.2 million; 500,000 less have health insurance (and the minimum wage hasn't been lifted in a decade).
90% of federal TANF monies flowing into NYS have been diverted over the last 2 years from purpose(!).
Meanwhile, salaries for business and finance professionals are up by more than 17%, and 3800 New York taxpayers now make over $10 million per year.
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[recall below sent out to this list as well recently]
Thanks much to my Co. Leg. colleagues Barbara Jeter-Jackson, Alison MacAvery, Francena Amparo, and Jim Doxsey...
To their credit, Barbara, Alison, Francena and Jim have all agreed to co-sponsor my resolution below for March Co. Leg. mtg. for Better Choice Budget for NYS!...(see http://www.ABetterChoiceforNY.org )...
[sadly-- and predictably-- GOP Co. Leg. supermajority shot it down across party lines earlier this month]
[recall: Cablevision, some Occ.-Pok. and HPE folks came out our Valentine's Day rally in February:
http://www.dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2012/01/valentines-day-rally-have-heart-nys-at.html ]
Kudos as well to Conservative Co. Leg. Jim Doxsey for his work for years now to stop New York State from giving literally $16 billion annually to Wall Street in tax breaks re: stock transfer tax rebate...
[see: http://doxseydistrict1.com/?p=639 ; http://doxseydistrict1.com/?m=201103 ;
http://mhvperspective.com/?Return=T;lquery=Author+regexp+'James+R.+Doxsey'+order+by+ID+desc ;
http://doxseydistrict1.com/?cat=bwmbbkppup&paged=3 ]
[join 150+ signed to my http://www.petitiononline.com/stocktax effort if you agree with Jim/me on this!]
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Fact; Last year state spending on health care was cut by $2.8 billion, and the State University of New York has been cut by $1.4 billion over the last four years; SUNY's total operating budget has already been reduced by over 35% over the last five years, tuition is scheduled to rise by $300 a year every year for the next five years; our state's Department of Environmental Conservation was funded at $1.5 billion in 2009-2010; Governor Cuomo has proposed less than $1.1 billion in funding for the DEC for 2012-2013; there were 4050 DEC staff in 1989; less than 3000 DEC staff are proposed in Governor Cuomo's budget for next year.
[see: http://eany.org/images/Reports/budgetbrief12-13.pdf ;
http://www.SaveOurSUNY.org ; http://www.nysenate.gov/files/Jackie%20Haynes.pdf ;
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/08/student-loan-debt-bankruptcy_n_1263348.html ;
http://online.wsj.com/article/APf6aaf05fc11c46e7a78621d594e11cb1.html ;
http://www.projectonstudentdebt.org http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/12/education/12college.html ]
From AQE too ( http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=658278308#!/events/306129579428162/ ):
$2.7 billion of state aid has been cut from NY schools in the last two years. Essential programming has been lost. Services to special education have been reduced. 11,000 teaching JOBS have been eliminated last year alone. Community schools are closing. Standard building maintenance has been postponed. Our students and teachers cannot take another year of cuts:
http://www.aqeny.org/ny/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Jan-10-2012-First-things-First-NJ-Final-12.13.pdf
And-- check out http://www.SaveOurSUNY.org -- one-third of state SUNY funding cut over last 3 years!
["college tuition has gone up 432% since 1982, 2x the rate of medical care and 4x the rate of inflation"]
Fact: Cuomo has proposed to rip $99 million out of state funding for early childhood intervention services over the next five years (and cuts tobacco prevention funding by $10 million over the next two years).
[reaction noted in recent Albany Times-Union piece on this: "Early intervention providers were stunned by the cuts to the program. 'I'm extremely disappointed,' said Leslie Grubler, of the United New York Early Intervention Providers."-- from "Details of Cuomo's Budget Proposal":
http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Details-of-Cuomo-s-budget-proposal-2593571.php ]
Also-- according to the Environmental Advocates of New York:
[see http://eany.org/images/Reports/budgetbrief12-13.pdf ]
Fact: Our state's Department of Environmental Conservation was funded to the tune of $1.5 billion in 2009-2010; Cuomo has proposed less than $1.1 billion in funding for the DEC for 2012-2013.
Fact: There were 4050 DEC staff in 1989; less than 3000 DEC staff are proposed in Cuomo's budget for next year.
[recall recent EANY report-- 90% DEC SPDES permits rubber-stamped due to understaffing @ DEC:
http://www.eany.org/pdf/PermissiontoPollute_04282008.pdf ]
Fact: Cuomo has proposed a $1.2 million cut to the DEC's Air and Water Quality Management program, a $4.2 million cut to the DEC's Solid and Hazardous Waste Management program, seven less staff for the NYS Dept. of Agriculture and Markets, two less staff for NYS Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation, and $190,000 less for municipal recycling (among other cuts; see EANY.org pdf report).
Fact: As it is now already, over the last four years, DEC and Ag and Markets have each lost over 20% of their staffing.
Don't forget what happens here in Dutchess County when state budget not fully funding human needs-- just over last two years Dutchess GOP have eliminated county funding for our county's Human Rights Commission, Office of Consumer Affairs, Youth Bureau's Project Return program for troubled teens, a full five-day week at our county Office for the Aging Senior Friendship Centers (instead of the current four-day week); appoint a County Historian. Also, our county DSS' Day Care Unit needs to be fully funded-- as your annual report's 2011 Departmental Annual Summary informs us all that, "Effective July 1, 2011 the income guidelines for the Day Care Unit were changed to those whose income is below 125 percent of the poverty level-- from those whose income is below 200 percent of the poverty level"... [recall-- http://www.petitiononline.com/cobudget ]
[also-- for reminder of last year's cuts-- see http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/apr2011/nybu-a12.shtml !]
Don't forget the fact is that the richest one percent of NYS households increased their share of all income statewide from 10 percent in 1980 to 35 percent in 2007-- there's no reason the state should be shortfunding monies for seniors' prescriptions, our schools-- or anything, for that matter...
[Dec. 13, 2010 report from FiscalPolicy.org; for more info re: corporate tax loopholes see: http://www.abetterchoiceforny.org/Tax_onesheet-1_5_12.pdf ]
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Not Enough to Meet Social Needs
James Parrott is the deputy director and chief economist of the Fiscal Policy Institute.
UPDATED DECEMBER 8, 2011, 7:16 PM
http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/12/08/cuomos-tax-deal-who-benefits-the-most/huge-budget-holes-remain
The Albany agreement on taxes and jobs is an important step in the right direction. It involves a progressive change in the state's personal income tax structure that generates a net of $1.5 billion to help reduce next year's budget deficit. It will provide a modest but much-needed job stimulus.
Too many highly profitable Fortune 500 companies use loopholes and favors to avoid paying state income taxes.
Economically, both the income tax increases and decreases mainly occur among upper-middle and upper income households in New York City and its suburbs. The modest tax bracket reduction for those under $150,000 will be spread across the state, as will the benefit of averting $1.5 billion in budget cuts.
The troubling thing is that a $2 billion budget gap remains. Funding for schools, public higher education, mass transit, child care and homeless assistance already have been slashed at a time when needs have multiplied in the wake of the Great Recession. New York has lost 500,000 job opportunities and $31 billion in annual earnings that go with those lost opportunities
The two-thirds increase in food stamp recipiency - 1.2 million more New Yorkers - since the recession began shows that needs have skyrocketed, yet $20 billion in services and state support has been reduced over the past three years. A half million new jobs would go a long way, restoring self-esteem in the process. More budget cuts will only make it worse.
The second step on the road back needs to be corporate tax reform. As a new report this week showed, scores of highly profitable Fortune 500 companies use loopholes and favors to avoid paying state income taxes. It's no wonder many big corporations are sitting on mountains of cash. Business income taxes have fallen sharply relative to the size of New York's economy - if the share were back to where it was 25 years ago, state revenues would be $3 billion higher.
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A Millionaire at $220,000 a Year?
Bridget Crawford is a professor of law at Pace Law School.
UPDATED DECEMBER 9, 2011, 11:54 AM
http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/12/08/cuomos-tax-deal-who-benefits-the-most/a-millionaire-at-220000-a-year
Governor Cuomo's new tax plan is well-intended but flawed in execution. It embraces the notion that those who have more should pay more, but implements that policy with blunt tax rates that treat too many people as "millionaires."
Wealthy New Yorkers probably won't pick up and move, but they may think twice about bringing their business here.
What is good about the Cuomo tax plan is that it gives a modest tax break to families that earn less than $200,000 a year. Before 2009, a single New Yorker earning $30,000 per year would be subject to taxation on her last dollar earned at the highest rate of 6.85 percent. That same New Yorker will now pay tax on her last dollar earned at a rate of 6.45 percent. That means more money in the pockets of those who need it to meet basic living expenses.
What is bad about the Cuomo tax plan is that it does not differentiate in a meaningful way between a person who makes $220,000 per year and a person who makes $2 million per year. To Cuomo, these people are all rich -- or at least rich enough to lump together.
A commitment to truly progressive taxation would require lawmakers to get past political rhetoric and acknowledge that the rich are different. Not only are they different from you and me, but they are different from each other. The Fiscal Policy Institute got it right with its proposal to impose tax at carefully stepped rates that range from 4 percent to almost 10 percent, with 12 different brackets. To be sure, 12 brackets are not as finely graded as 24 brackets, and 24 brackets are not as finely graded as 48, but the Cuomo plan lumps together too many taxpayers.
New York's tax rates are among the highest in the nation. Will wealthy New Yorkers pick up and move somewhere else? Probably not. But they may think twice about bringing their business here. The banking and financial services industries are already losing out to states like Delaware and Alaska in the competition for trust business. By making trusts subject to taxation at these high rates, New York is likely to lose even more trust business.
That means loss of jobs for the people who work at banks, the workers with 9 to 5 jobs, families to feed and student loans to repay. In the short term, these folks may be taxed at slightly lower rates under the Cuomo plan, but in the long term, they may not have jobs at all.
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From: Ronald Deutsch
Subject: New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness responds to Executive Budget
Date: Jan 17, 2012 3:26 PM
Budget on Revenues: Smoke Em if You Can Afford Em Ron Deutsch, Executive Director of New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness responds to Lack of Corporate Loopholes Closers in Executive Budget Proposal
"The Governor's 'Smoke Em if You Got Em' revenue generating agenda leaves much to be desired. Raising taxes on cigars and loose tobacco fall far short of a substantive loophole closing agenda especially when our current corporate tax law has more holes than swiss cheese."
"Last week, organizations from across New York called upon the Governor to follow three simple principles when it comes to closing corporate loopholes; enforcement, transparency and fairness. New York could and should collect hundreds of million in uncollected tax revenue simply by enforcing current tax law, especially when it comes to unreported gains from Real Estate Partnerships.
"Before we cut one program for needy New Yorkers we should make sure that wealthy real estate moguls are actually paying their taxes. We must also ensure that big multi-national corporations that do business in NYS pay something in corporate taxes. Too many are avoiding paying any taxes to NYS. We need to level the playing field so that small businesses are not left 'holding the bag' while big businesses are allowed to avail themselves of billions of dollars in corporate tax subsidies and loopholes."
Ronald Deutsch Executive Director
New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness
212 Great Oaks Blvd
Albany, NY 12203
(518) 452-2130 - office
(518) 469-6769 - cell
(518) 869-8649 - fax
rdeutschnyff@gmail.com or
mkd67@aol.com
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Coalition Wants Corporate Tax Loopholes Closed
WAMC/Dave Lucas (2012-01-10)
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wamc/news.newsmain/article/1/0/1892051/WAMC.New.York.News/Coalition.Wants.Corporate.Tax.Loopholes.Closed
ALBANY, NY (WAMC) - A large coalition of community, labor, student, faith and Occupy organizations gathered at the New York State Capitol on Monday to announce their campaign to bring fairness and transparency to New York's corporate tax system. WAMC's Dave Lucas was there and files this report.
Unified under the "99 per cent New York" banner, the coalition, which includes Citizen Action of New York, the New York State Public Employees Federation, Occupy Albany and others, is calling on Governor Cuomo and the Legislature to close corporate tax loopholes, raising over $1 billion dollars for this year's state budget. They say additional revenue will help New York to create jobs, create a fairer environment for small business, and prevent more devastating budget cuts to services and our safety net and allow for restorations of reduced funding. Occupy Albany's Colin Donnaruma said "The fact that all too often powerful corporations are able to wield political influence to create tax loopholes to avoid paying their fair-share is a paradigmatic example of the broader economic and political inequalities that have motivated the Occupy movement."
The groups produced a list of companies they allege are New York's worst corporate tax dodgers, including Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, Travelers Insurance, Verizon, and Goldman Sachs. PEF President Ken Brynien notes the list highlights the gross inequities in our tax system that hinder small businesses, job creation, and our economy. Angelica Clarke, organizer with New York Students Rising and Save Our SUNY, says students demand Governor Cuomo and the legislature initiate a tuition freeze.
The coalition's plan to reform New York's corporate tax structure is based on three main principles: enforcement, fairness, and transparency. The Governor's office did not immediately return calls for comment.
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From http://www.abetterchoiceforny.org/Tax_onesheet-1_5_12.pdf ...
[the Better Choice Budget coalition]
New York should raise needed revenue and restore fairness to the tax code by reforming our state corporate tax structure and closing a variety of corporate tax loopholes to make sure small business and big business play by the same rules, and that higher profits are taxed at reasonably higher rates.
Last year's effort to make the PIT more progressive and more fair should continue in 2012 by reforming corporate taxes to close loopholes, end costly and ineffective tax subsidies, and fix shortcomings that unnecessarily reduce tax collections and limit resources needed to maintain and invest in the infrastructure, services and educated workforce that foster long-term economic growth.
Reform Principles: Enforcement, fairness and transparency
Targets: Corporate tax evaders, real estate partnership abuses, hedge funds income treatment
Methods: Tough Audits, reasonable minimum tax for big business, eliminate hedge fund subsidies, mandatory tax reporting for public companies A simple, targeted corporate tax reform effort would provide over $1 billion in revenue for this year's state budget, and provide a start for the Tax Reform and Fairness Commission to continue reforms.
Enforcement: Require Real Estate Partnerships To Pay The Taxes They Owe
New York must undertake a new intensive review of the tax returns of investors in real estate partnerships to ensure compliance with tax laws. In an examination of just one year's tax returns (2005), IRS staff estimated that real estate investors underpaid $5 billion in taxes to the federal government and $385 million to New York State.
Underreporting or misreporting of capital gains from real estate investments is the main cause of tax underpayments. Reuters columnist David Cay Johnston, who reported the 2005 IRS data when he wrote for the New York Times, recently wrote that the annual underpayment of New York State taxes in connection with real estate partnerships ranged from $200 to $700 million annually. Johnston also pointed out that New York City alone could be losing out on $40 million annually.
New York could recover as much as $1 billion from prior-year audits, with annual revenues thereafter well over $100 million. The state of Pennsylvania recently recaptured over $700 million by making sure that the investors in Real Estate Partnerships paid the proper taxes on their overall gains.
Fairness: Reform New York's Corporate Alternate Minimum Tax (AMT)
Several significant loopholes that favor multi-state corporations were added to New York's Corporate AMT beginning in 1994 and the AMT rate was cut from 3.5% to 2.5% in 1999 and then to 1.5% in 2005 for non-manufacturers and most recently .75% for manufacturers (manufacturers rate was recently changed in the tax reform package of December 2011).
A Blueprint for Corporate Tax Fairness: Closing Corporate Tax Loopholes & Reforming the Corporate Income Tax
These changes should be repealed or the AMT should be replaced with a variation of the Alternative Minimum Assessment (AMA) adopted by New Jersey in 2002. To ensure that such an assessment would not hurt small business, it should only be applied to businesses with annual gross profits of $5 million or more.
We need to level the playing field between large and small businesses by making sure that large multinational corporations pay a minimum corporate income tax in NYS. NYS should increase the Corporate AMT to where it was a decade ago (3.5%) which would generate hundreds of millions in additional revenue.
Tax Nonresident Hedge Fund Management Fees
In his 2010 Executive Budget proposal, Governor Paterson proposed to "expand the nonresident personal income tax to include income received from hedge fund management fees."
As the governor's proposal explained, "Currently, only a small portion of such income is taxed as compensation, with the remainder deemed tax-free capital gains. This proposal would result inequal treatment of this income for residents and nonresidents." This proposal would generate $50 million in additional revenue.
Eliminate the Carried Interest Exemption Under New York City's Unincorporated Business Tax
The State Legislature should eliminate the carried interest exemption loophole in the New York City Unincorporated Business Tax, to put the taxation of private equity and hedge funds on the same footing as that of thousands of smaller businesses. Right now, the City Unincorporated Business Tax taxes fees received by managing partners in private equity and hedge funds but actually exempts profits from taxation.
"Carried interest" is the technical industry term for the profit share received by managing partners (usually 20 percent of pooled investment profits) in hedge funds - anyone else would call it corporate profits.
The New York City Independent Budget Office estimated that eliminating the carried interest exemption for the Unincorporated Business Tax would yield $200 million a year for New York City. This reform was recently supported by Mayor Bloomberg. Transparency Crackdown on Schemes that Create "Nowhere Income"
Multi-state corporations pay no taxes on profits attributable to sales made in states in which they do not have a physical presence. To address this situation, 28 of the 45 states with corporate income taxes, including California, Texas and Utah have enacted "throw-back" or "throw-out" rules to limit this drain on state revenues.
In contrast, New York actually went backwards on this issue in 2005, instituting a wasteful "Single Sales Factor" method for apportioning multi-state corporate profits that actually increase "nowhere income" and opportunities to evade taxes.
It's time to institute reforms that have worked for other states. Require Public Disclosure of Corporate Tax Payments for Publicly-Traded Companies Revenue neutral, but disclosure and transparency measures are a good addition to any corporate tax reform package.
We urge the state to adopt corporate tax disclosure for publicly traded firms subject to taxation under 9-A and 32 and any successor taxes. These and other corporate tax reforms are supported by a broad range of community, labor, student, faith and Occupy groups from across New York - for more information visit 99PercentNY.org.
Please let us know asap if you might be able to come out today-- Mon. (Apr. 16th) 4:30 pm to join us-- for our Rally to Save Hyde Park Elementary School!...(on Rt. 9 in Hyde Park next to Regina Coeli Church)...
And-- also come out if you can to speak up on this Tues. (Apr. 17th) at 6 pm Hyde Park School Board mtg. at Haviland Middle School on Haviland Road!...(kudos to effort-- Josh Horton, Cathy Baker, et. al.)...
[this could have been avoided; see http://www.ABetterChoiceforNY.org ; http://www.99PercentNY.org ; bad enough that Smith Elementary & LaGrange Elementary have closed; 1/2 K now in Poughkeepsie]
[recall my Feb. Valley Views Poughkeepsie Journal op-ed-- "Demand Fairness in New York's Budget":
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20120223/OPINION04/302230037/Demand-fairness-New-York-s-budget ; even May 2010 NYTimes editorial warned us Cuomo was going to sell schools out(!):
http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2010/07/thanx-tons-to-all-of-you-who-stood-with.html ]
Recall-- recent Marist/YNN, Siena, Quinnipiac and Hart research polls all show the vast majority of New Yorkers strongly supported maintaining the FULL millionaires tax-- which used to bring in five billion dollars annually from richest 2% of New Yorkers (and now because of Cuomo deal only nets $1.9 B!):
http://www.capitaltonight.com/2011/02/groups-band-together-to-push-millionaires-tax/ ; http://www.hungeractionnys.org/Poeple%20SOS%20release%202011.pdf ;
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=940073&category=state ;
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/financial/2010/08/16/100816ta_talk_surowiecki ...
Pass it on...
Joel
845-444-0599/876-2488
joeltyner@earthlink.net
http://www.JoelforCongress.org
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel (260+)
http://www.DutchessDemocracy.blogspot.com
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[this below from front page of Saturday's paper if you missed it]
Hyde Park Elementary School to shut
District begins shift; school closure may save $1.7 million
1:49 PM, Apr. 14, 2012 |
John Davis
Poughkeepsie Journal
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20120414/NEWS02/304140019/Hyde-Park-Elementary-School-shut
Board meeting
The Hyde Park Board of Education next meets at 6 p.m. April 17 at Haviland Middle School on Haviland Road. More information is available at 845-229-4005 or online at www.hpcsd.org.
Hyde Park Elementary facts
Location: Route 9 in Town of Hyde Park
Student enrollment: 225
Staff: 50
HYDE PARK - The school district will begin planning to shift students and staff with its decision to close Hyde Park Elementary School at the end of the school year.
The Hyde Park Board of Education accepted the recommendation of its School Closing Advisory Committee to shut an elementary school to save $1.7 million in programs and staff.
Superintendent Greer Fischer outlined the committee's findings at the board meeting at Netherwood Elementary School. The board will formally vote Tuesday to close the school when it adopts the 2012-13 budget.
The committee concluded that the district's elementary school students can be moved from five to four buildings and, due to declining district enrollment, still receive a sound education.
"The teaching and learning will not be compromised," Fischer said.
The committee, however, left it to the school board to decide to close either Hyde Park or Ralph R. Smith elementary schools - the two of the district's five elementary schools being considered.
This would be the third public school to be closed in two years. The Poughkeepsie City School District closed W.W. Smith Humanities Magnet School, and Arlington Central School District closed LaGrange Elementary School and then used it for district offices. Poughkeepsie is considering closing Columbus Elementary School to help meet a $2.8 million budget gap for 2012-13.
Decision to close
A majority of the six school board members favored closing Hyde Park Elementary, based in part on its lower enrollment and the greater potential for renting the historic building on Route 9 in the town center. In an informal vote Thursday night, board members Sharon Matyas, Dan Duffy, Doug Hieter and Glenn Watson supported closing Hyde Park Elementary.
Board member Tim Liebrand supported closing Ralph R. Smith due to its central location in the district. Board member Steven Mittermaier did not express a preference.
The board's decision brought tears to the eyes of many Hyde Park Elementary parents attending the meeting. But some of them acknowledged the board had a difficult decision to make due to economic conditions.
Budget gap
The downturn in revenues, particularly state aid, and rising expenses created a budget gap next school year that was initially $10.5 million. The board has closed that gap by planning to cut costs across the district and spending $6 million in fund balance and reserve funds.
The final budget draft of $83.5 million reduces spending next year by 0.29 percent and raises the tax levy 2.68 percent to $52.7 million. This still meets the state 2 percent tax-levy cap when exemptions for capital spending, payments in lieu of taxes and pension contributions are factored in.
The board is opting to use $405,939 of the $605,939 of state aid recently restored by the state Legislature to offset the tax-levy increase, which was 3.53 percent. The other $200,000 will be used to offset district expenses.
The savings resulting from closing the elementary school will come primarily from reducing 16.5 staff positions. This includes a principal, six teaching positions, a librarian, a nurse, a secretary, three custodians and two cafeteria staff.
"The major part of the savings are in the administrative and managerial operation of the building," Fischer said.
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[again-- in case you missed it-- my op-ed Valley Views from Feb. 22nd Poughkeepsie Journal]
Demand fairness in New York's budget
11:10 PM, Feb. 22, 2012 |
Written by
Joel Tyner
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20120223/OPINION04/302230037/Demand-fairness-New-York-s-budget
Joel Tyner is a Dutchess County legislator for District 11, Clinton/Rhinebeck. He is also a Democratic candidate for the 20th Congressional District.
Resources
See http://www.DutchessDemocracy.blogspot.com ; http://www.JoelforCongress.org - call us at 845-444-0599 to get involved.
Also see http://www.ABetterChoiceforNY.org
Here are 10 reasons to come out to our "A Better Choice Budget for New York" forum with New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness Executive Director Ron Deutsch, Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at Rhinebeck Town Hall at 80 East Market St. Deutsch will also be speaking the same evening at 7:30 p.m. at the Christ Episcopal Church in Poughkeepsie on 20 Carroll St.
1. The Better Choice Budget Coalition sensibly calls for a return to the full millionaires tax and closing one billion dollars' worth of corporate tax loopholes annually - coalition members include the New York State Alliance for Retired Americans, Statewide Senior Action Council of NYS, NYS Coalition for the Aging, New York State Library Association, Interfaith Alliance of NYS, Interfaith Impact of NYS, NYS Episcopal Public Policy Network, Alliance for Quality Education, Environmental Advocates of NY, Center for Independence of the Disabled of New York, NYS AFL-CIO, CSEA, NYSUT, PEF, AFSCME, New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services, New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness, NYS Community Action Association, New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness, Community Voices Heard, Fiscal Policy Institute, and the Hunger Action Network of New York State.
[see http://www.ABetterChoiceforNY.org ]
2. Fact: New York's millionaires tax used to bring in $4.6 billion in revenue annually; because of December's tax deal, it now only brings in $1.9 billion in revenue - creating a $2.7 billion hole in the state budget ( http://www.FiscalPolicy.org ).
3. Meanwhile, over the last two years alone $2.7 billion has been cut from state aid to schools - so Hyde Park Elementary School may close, LaGrange and Smith Elementary schools already closed, and the City of Poughkeepsie has cut back to half-day kindergarten - and Gov. Andrew Cuomo has proposed to add only $805 million in state aid to schools this year while proposing to cut $99 million from early childhood intervention services over the next five years.
4. Sixty-three percent of school districts increased their class size because of these budget cuts, 36 percent cut summer schools, 22 percent cut art classes, 14 percent cut music classes, and 17 percent cut honors or advanced placement courses ( http://www.AQENY.org ).
5. The richest 1 percent of New York state households increased their share of all income statewide from 10 percent in 1980 to 35 percent in 2007, and the 67 billionaires who call New York home have a combined net worth over $234.9 billion ( http://www.99PercentNY.org ).
6. Recent Marist/YNN, Siena, Quinnipiac and Hart research polls all show the vast majority of New Yorkers strongly supported maintaining the full millionaires tax.
[see: http://www.capitaltonight.com/2011/02/groups-band-together-to-push-millionaires-tax/ ; http://www.hungeractionnys.org/Poeple%20SOS%20release%202011.pdf ;
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=940073&category=state ;
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/financial/2010/08/16/100816ta_talk_surowiecki ]
7. As the Poughkeepsie Journal reported ("Seniors pay more under EPIC rules" Feb. 4), because of $36 million cut in state funding last year for the state's Elderly Prescription Insurance Coverage (EPIC) program, "starting in January EPIC participants have had to pay between $3 and $20 for a prescription, depending on the overall cost of the medication; now New York doesn't subsidize participants until they reach the coverage gap of $2,930, also known as the 'doughnut hole' - until that time, seniors pay 25 percent of the cost of the drug."
https://www.change.org/petitions/governor-cuomo-and-the-new-york-state-legislature-fully-fund-epic-elderly-prescription-insurance-coverage-program
8. The State University of New York's funding has been cut by $1.4 billion over the last four years - over $300 million last year alone. SUNY's total operating budget has already been reduced by over 35 percent over the last five years ( http://www.SaveOurSUNY.org ).
9. As Comptroller Tom DiNapoli has recently stated, "defined contribution plans are not adequate for retirement security for public or private workers; study after study has shown that defined benefit plans cost less in the long run than 401(k) style plans and perform better" - more workers should have defined-benefit pensions - we shouldn't kill what's left of the middle class by attacking public employee pensions.
[ http://www.osc.state.ny.us/press/releases/feb12/021312.htm ]
10. Finally, large multinational corporations that do business in New York should pay taxes; some of the worst corporate tax dodgers are Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, Travelers Insurance, Verizon and Goldman Sachs. We need to level the playing field so that small businesses are not left holding the bag while big businesses are allowed to avail themselves of billions of dollars in corporate tax subsidies and loopholes - loopholes should be closed for corporate tax evaders, real estate partnership abuses should end, and New York needs to "expand the nonresident personal income tax to include income received from hedge fund management fees," as Gov. David Paterson included in his 2010 Executive Budget proposal.
[ http://www.99PercentNY.org ]
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From: Kat Fisher
Hudson Valley Organizer
Alliance for Quality Education
94 Central Avenue
Albany, NY 12206
585-269-8605
THE 2012-13 STATE BUDGET The Governor's proposed budget committed to increase school funding by $805 million this year, but diverted $250 million into competitive grants. Our focus this year has been to redirect the competitive grants to classroom aid, ensure that high-need schools are prioritized, and get the state to invest in pre-kindergarten. Voting on the final budget is expected to begin on Wednesday but it appears that:
* Nearly $200 million of the proposed competitive grant funds will be restored to classroom aid
* High need districts will be prioritized
* The Legislature rejected cuts to early intervention services for children with special needs as well as to special education for pre-school children.
* The budget agreement includes changes to pre-k that will prevent back door cuts in pre-k.
OUR ADVOCACY MATTERS If not for the large numbers of advocates traveling to Albany in January, February and March to speak up for our children there may not have been such a response from our elected officials. (AQE and allies organized these trips)
$805 MILLION DOESN'T FIX $2.7 BILLION IN SCHOOL CUTS Due to $2.7 billion in state budget cuts to schools, many children have lost college prep and Advanced Placement Courses, Career & Technical Education, arts, music, sports, tutoring, foreign languages, high school electives, after school programs, librarians, guidance counselors and more. Some schools have even cut kindergarten to half-day. State budget cuts were two to three times as large per pupil in poor districts as in wealthy districts. Even with this year's $805 million restoration many school districts are still going to have to make painful cuts.
WHAT NOW? The State Budget will be voted on this week. It is critically important that all of us who are dedicated to improving our public schools and protecting our children's future continue to raise our voices. In order to do this we need to:
* Stay involved and get others involved by:
o Signing up for regular updates http://www.aqeny.org/
o Speaking out at community meetings.
o Holding press conferences in your community.
o Submitting opinion editorials and letters to the editor to local papers.
* Speak truth to power:
o Because of the grassroots advocacy efforts of parents, students, teachers, administrators and school board members, high need districts have been prioritized and classroom funding has been prioritized over competitive grants.
o This state budget is inadequate to address the growing education crisis in New York State. Tell the stories of the types of cuts that your schools are still considering
Budget update: Votes to begin on Wednesday and expected to be final this week
1- $805 million restoration to public schools
2- Nearly $200 million of the competitive grants will be redirected to the classroom
3- High needs districts are prioritized
4- The Legislature rejected cuts to early intervention services for children with special needs as well as to special education for pre-school children.
5- The budget agreement includes changes to pre-k that will prevent back door cuts in pre-k
Advocacy works. There is power in numbers. But unfortunately, because the total $805 million restoration will not fill the $2.7 billion hole and our children will lose more.
Schools are still facing layoffs, school closing, essential program losses, increasing class sizes and massive reorganizations.
Without the efforts of AQE and its allies, the modified Millionaires' Tax that was passed in December would not have been won. Without this increase in state revenue, any increase in education money could have never been funded.
AQE organized students, parents, educators and community members from across the state to speak up for our schools and our children's future. As a result of these efforts we expect, nearly $200m of the competitive grant money will redirected to classrooms, high needs districts will prioritized.
We worked with both sides of aisle in our legislature, both Republicans and Democrats, to fight for quality public schools so that every child has an opportunity to learn. We'd like to thank the Legislature for restoring $805 million to education, moving a majority of the competitive grant funding into the classroom where it belongs and for rejecting cuts to early intervention services for children with special needs and to special education pre-school children- cuts that would have resulted in more cuts to K-12 education since the school district would have had to pay for those cuts- and for making changes to preventing back door cuts to pre-k.
But unfortunately, this year's budget isn't going to prevent more cuts to our schools. The $805 million restoration will not fill the $2.7 billion hole, created by two consecutive years of state budget cuts and our children will lose more. Prior cuts have cost our children teachers and quality programs such as college prep and Advanced Placement Courses, Career & Technical Education, arts, music, sports, tutoring, foreign languages, high school electives, after school programs, librarians, guidance counselors and more. Some schools have even cut kindergarten to half-day.
Under Governor Cuomo's leadership our state moving in the wrong direction, in regards to education. Our schools are getting worse, not better.
Now we'll hear from our speakers about how state budget has and is impacting our schools.
The budget fixes the Maintenance of Effort issue (districts had to maintain the same number of students served in the year before, to not lose any funding) which penalized many districts for fluctuations in enrollment and provided a disincentive for expanding pre-k services.
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Check out these facts from Ron Deutsch of http://www.ABetterChoiceforNY.org :
New York is #1 in the U.S.A. in income inequality.
Over the last 30 years, the income of the top 1% of New Yorkers has gone up 500%, while the income of the bottom 50% has gone down 13%
New York has lost over 500,000 jobs during the Great Recession.
One in three New Yorkers are poor or near-poor.
Food stamp use has increased by 1.2 million; 500,000 less have health insurance (and the minimum wage hasn't been lifted in a decade).
90% of federal TANF monies flowing into NYS have been diverted over the last 2 years from purpose(!).
Meanwhile, salaries for business and finance professionals are up by more than 17%, and 3800 New York taxpayers now make over $10 million per year.
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[recall below sent out to this list as well recently]
Thanks much to my Co. Leg. colleagues Barbara Jeter-Jackson, Alison MacAvery, Francena Amparo, and Jim Doxsey...
To their credit, Barbara, Alison, Francena and Jim have all agreed to co-sponsor my resolution below for March Co. Leg. mtg. for Better Choice Budget for NYS!...(see http://www.ABetterChoiceforNY.org )...
[sadly-- and predictably-- GOP Co. Leg. supermajority shot it down across party lines earlier this month]
[recall: Cablevision, some Occ.-Pok. and HPE folks came out our Valentine's Day rally in February:
http://www.dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2012/01/valentines-day-rally-have-heart-nys-at.html ]
Kudos as well to Conservative Co. Leg. Jim Doxsey for his work for years now to stop New York State from giving literally $16 billion annually to Wall Street in tax breaks re: stock transfer tax rebate...
[see: http://doxseydistrict1.com/?p=639 ; http://doxseydistrict1.com/?m=201103 ;
http://mhvperspective.com/?Return=T;lquery=Author+regexp+'James+R.+Doxsey'+order+by+ID+desc ;
http://doxseydistrict1.com/?cat=bwmbbkppup&paged=3 ]
[join 150+ signed to my http://www.petitiononline.com/stocktax effort if you agree with Jim/me on this!]
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Fact; Last year state spending on health care was cut by $2.8 billion, and the State University of New York has been cut by $1.4 billion over the last four years; SUNY's total operating budget has already been reduced by over 35% over the last five years, tuition is scheduled to rise by $300 a year every year for the next five years; our state's Department of Environmental Conservation was funded at $1.5 billion in 2009-2010; Governor Cuomo has proposed less than $1.1 billion in funding for the DEC for 2012-2013; there were 4050 DEC staff in 1989; less than 3000 DEC staff are proposed in Governor Cuomo's budget for next year.
[see: http://eany.org/images/Reports/budgetbrief12-13.pdf ;
http://www.SaveOurSUNY.org ; http://www.nysenate.gov/files/Jackie%20Haynes.pdf ;
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/08/student-loan-debt-bankruptcy_n_1263348.html ;
http://online.wsj.com/article/APf6aaf05fc11c46e7a78621d594e11cb1.html ;
http://www.projectonstudentdebt.org http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/12/education/12college.html ]
From AQE too ( http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=658278308#!/events/306129579428162/ ):
$2.7 billion of state aid has been cut from NY schools in the last two years. Essential programming has been lost. Services to special education have been reduced. 11,000 teaching JOBS have been eliminated last year alone. Community schools are closing. Standard building maintenance has been postponed. Our students and teachers cannot take another year of cuts:
http://www.aqeny.org/ny/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Jan-10-2012-First-things-First-NJ-Final-12.13.pdf
And-- check out http://www.SaveOurSUNY.org -- one-third of state SUNY funding cut over last 3 years!
["college tuition has gone up 432% since 1982, 2x the rate of medical care and 4x the rate of inflation"]
Fact: Cuomo has proposed to rip $99 million out of state funding for early childhood intervention services over the next five years (and cuts tobacco prevention funding by $10 million over the next two years).
[reaction noted in recent Albany Times-Union piece on this: "Early intervention providers were stunned by the cuts to the program. 'I'm extremely disappointed,' said Leslie Grubler, of the United New York Early Intervention Providers."-- from "Details of Cuomo's Budget Proposal":
http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Details-of-Cuomo-s-budget-proposal-2593571.php ]
Also-- according to the Environmental Advocates of New York:
[see http://eany.org/images/Reports/budgetbrief12-13.pdf ]
Fact: Our state's Department of Environmental Conservation was funded to the tune of $1.5 billion in 2009-2010; Cuomo has proposed less than $1.1 billion in funding for the DEC for 2012-2013.
Fact: There were 4050 DEC staff in 1989; less than 3000 DEC staff are proposed in Cuomo's budget for next year.
[recall recent EANY report-- 90% DEC SPDES permits rubber-stamped due to understaffing @ DEC:
http://www.eany.org/pdf/PermissiontoPollute_04282008.pdf ]
Fact: Cuomo has proposed a $1.2 million cut to the DEC's Air and Water Quality Management program, a $4.2 million cut to the DEC's Solid and Hazardous Waste Management program, seven less staff for the NYS Dept. of Agriculture and Markets, two less staff for NYS Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation, and $190,000 less for municipal recycling (among other cuts; see EANY.org pdf report).
Fact: As it is now already, over the last four years, DEC and Ag and Markets have each lost over 20% of their staffing.
Don't forget what happens here in Dutchess County when state budget not fully funding human needs-- just over last two years Dutchess GOP have eliminated county funding for our county's Human Rights Commission, Office of Consumer Affairs, Youth Bureau's Project Return program for troubled teens, a full five-day week at our county Office for the Aging Senior Friendship Centers (instead of the current four-day week); appoint a County Historian. Also, our county DSS' Day Care Unit needs to be fully funded-- as your annual report's 2011 Departmental Annual Summary informs us all that, "Effective July 1, 2011 the income guidelines for the Day Care Unit were changed to those whose income is below 125 percent of the poverty level-- from those whose income is below 200 percent of the poverty level"... [recall-- http://www.petitiononline.com/cobudget ]
[also-- for reminder of last year's cuts-- see http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/apr2011/nybu-a12.shtml !]
Don't forget the fact is that the richest one percent of NYS households increased their share of all income statewide from 10 percent in 1980 to 35 percent in 2007-- there's no reason the state should be shortfunding monies for seniors' prescriptions, our schools-- or anything, for that matter...
[Dec. 13, 2010 report from FiscalPolicy.org; for more info re: corporate tax loopholes see: http://www.abetterchoiceforny.org/Tax_onesheet-1_5_12.pdf ]
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Not Enough to Meet Social Needs
James Parrott is the deputy director and chief economist of the Fiscal Policy Institute.
UPDATED DECEMBER 8, 2011, 7:16 PM
http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/12/08/cuomos-tax-deal-who-benefits-the-most/huge-budget-holes-remain
The Albany agreement on taxes and jobs is an important step in the right direction. It involves a progressive change in the state's personal income tax structure that generates a net of $1.5 billion to help reduce next year's budget deficit. It will provide a modest but much-needed job stimulus.
Too many highly profitable Fortune 500 companies use loopholes and favors to avoid paying state income taxes.
Economically, both the income tax increases and decreases mainly occur among upper-middle and upper income households in New York City and its suburbs. The modest tax bracket reduction for those under $150,000 will be spread across the state, as will the benefit of averting $1.5 billion in budget cuts.
The troubling thing is that a $2 billion budget gap remains. Funding for schools, public higher education, mass transit, child care and homeless assistance already have been slashed at a time when needs have multiplied in the wake of the Great Recession. New York has lost 500,000 job opportunities and $31 billion in annual earnings that go with those lost opportunities
The two-thirds increase in food stamp recipiency - 1.2 million more New Yorkers - since the recession began shows that needs have skyrocketed, yet $20 billion in services and state support has been reduced over the past three years. A half million new jobs would go a long way, restoring self-esteem in the process. More budget cuts will only make it worse.
The second step on the road back needs to be corporate tax reform. As a new report this week showed, scores of highly profitable Fortune 500 companies use loopholes and favors to avoid paying state income taxes. It's no wonder many big corporations are sitting on mountains of cash. Business income taxes have fallen sharply relative to the size of New York's economy - if the share were back to where it was 25 years ago, state revenues would be $3 billion higher.
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A Millionaire at $220,000 a Year?
Bridget Crawford is a professor of law at Pace Law School.
UPDATED DECEMBER 9, 2011, 11:54 AM
http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/12/08/cuomos-tax-deal-who-benefits-the-most/a-millionaire-at-220000-a-year
Governor Cuomo's new tax plan is well-intended but flawed in execution. It embraces the notion that those who have more should pay more, but implements that policy with blunt tax rates that treat too many people as "millionaires."
Wealthy New Yorkers probably won't pick up and move, but they may think twice about bringing their business here.
What is good about the Cuomo tax plan is that it gives a modest tax break to families that earn less than $200,000 a year. Before 2009, a single New Yorker earning $30,000 per year would be subject to taxation on her last dollar earned at the highest rate of 6.85 percent. That same New Yorker will now pay tax on her last dollar earned at a rate of 6.45 percent. That means more money in the pockets of those who need it to meet basic living expenses.
What is bad about the Cuomo tax plan is that it does not differentiate in a meaningful way between a person who makes $220,000 per year and a person who makes $2 million per year. To Cuomo, these people are all rich -- or at least rich enough to lump together.
A commitment to truly progressive taxation would require lawmakers to get past political rhetoric and acknowledge that the rich are different. Not only are they different from you and me, but they are different from each other. The Fiscal Policy Institute got it right with its proposal to impose tax at carefully stepped rates that range from 4 percent to almost 10 percent, with 12 different brackets. To be sure, 12 brackets are not as finely graded as 24 brackets, and 24 brackets are not as finely graded as 48, but the Cuomo plan lumps together too many taxpayers.
New York's tax rates are among the highest in the nation. Will wealthy New Yorkers pick up and move somewhere else? Probably not. But they may think twice about bringing their business here. The banking and financial services industries are already losing out to states like Delaware and Alaska in the competition for trust business. By making trusts subject to taxation at these high rates, New York is likely to lose even more trust business.
That means loss of jobs for the people who work at banks, the workers with 9 to 5 jobs, families to feed and student loans to repay. In the short term, these folks may be taxed at slightly lower rates under the Cuomo plan, but in the long term, they may not have jobs at all.
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From: Ronald Deutsch
Subject: New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness responds to Executive Budget
Date: Jan 17, 2012 3:26 PM
Budget on Revenues: Smoke Em if You Can Afford Em Ron Deutsch, Executive Director of New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness responds to Lack of Corporate Loopholes Closers in Executive Budget Proposal
"The Governor's 'Smoke Em if You Got Em' revenue generating agenda leaves much to be desired. Raising taxes on cigars and loose tobacco fall far short of a substantive loophole closing agenda especially when our current corporate tax law has more holes than swiss cheese."
"Last week, organizations from across New York called upon the Governor to follow three simple principles when it comes to closing corporate loopholes; enforcement, transparency and fairness. New York could and should collect hundreds of million in uncollected tax revenue simply by enforcing current tax law, especially when it comes to unreported gains from Real Estate Partnerships.
"Before we cut one program for needy New Yorkers we should make sure that wealthy real estate moguls are actually paying their taxes. We must also ensure that big multi-national corporations that do business in NYS pay something in corporate taxes. Too many are avoiding paying any taxes to NYS. We need to level the playing field so that small businesses are not left 'holding the bag' while big businesses are allowed to avail themselves of billions of dollars in corporate tax subsidies and loopholes."
Ronald Deutsch Executive Director
New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness
212 Great Oaks Blvd
Albany, NY 12203
(518) 452-2130 - office
(518) 469-6769 - cell
(518) 869-8649 - fax
rdeutschnyff@gmail.com or
mkd67@aol.com
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Coalition Wants Corporate Tax Loopholes Closed
WAMC/Dave Lucas (2012-01-10)
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wamc/news.newsmain/article/1/0/1892051/WAMC.New.York.News/Coalition.Wants.Corporate.Tax.Loopholes.Closed
ALBANY, NY (WAMC) - A large coalition of community, labor, student, faith and Occupy organizations gathered at the New York State Capitol on Monday to announce their campaign to bring fairness and transparency to New York's corporate tax system. WAMC's Dave Lucas was there and files this report.
Unified under the "99 per cent New York" banner, the coalition, which includes Citizen Action of New York, the New York State Public Employees Federation, Occupy Albany and others, is calling on Governor Cuomo and the Legislature to close corporate tax loopholes, raising over $1 billion dollars for this year's state budget. They say additional revenue will help New York to create jobs, create a fairer environment for small business, and prevent more devastating budget cuts to services and our safety net and allow for restorations of reduced funding. Occupy Albany's Colin Donnaruma said "The fact that all too often powerful corporations are able to wield political influence to create tax loopholes to avoid paying their fair-share is a paradigmatic example of the broader economic and political inequalities that have motivated the Occupy movement."
The groups produced a list of companies they allege are New York's worst corporate tax dodgers, including Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, Travelers Insurance, Verizon, and Goldman Sachs. PEF President Ken Brynien notes the list highlights the gross inequities in our tax system that hinder small businesses, job creation, and our economy. Angelica Clarke, organizer with New York Students Rising and Save Our SUNY, says students demand Governor Cuomo and the legislature initiate a tuition freeze.
The coalition's plan to reform New York's corporate tax structure is based on three main principles: enforcement, fairness, and transparency. The Governor's office did not immediately return calls for comment.
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From http://www.abetterchoiceforny.org/Tax_onesheet-1_5_12.pdf ...
[the Better Choice Budget coalition]
New York should raise needed revenue and restore fairness to the tax code by reforming our state corporate tax structure and closing a variety of corporate tax loopholes to make sure small business and big business play by the same rules, and that higher profits are taxed at reasonably higher rates.
Last year's effort to make the PIT more progressive and more fair should continue in 2012 by reforming corporate taxes to close loopholes, end costly and ineffective tax subsidies, and fix shortcomings that unnecessarily reduce tax collections and limit resources needed to maintain and invest in the infrastructure, services and educated workforce that foster long-term economic growth.
Reform Principles: Enforcement, fairness and transparency
Targets: Corporate tax evaders, real estate partnership abuses, hedge funds income treatment
Methods: Tough Audits, reasonable minimum tax for big business, eliminate hedge fund subsidies, mandatory tax reporting for public companies A simple, targeted corporate tax reform effort would provide over $1 billion in revenue for this year's state budget, and provide a start for the Tax Reform and Fairness Commission to continue reforms.
Enforcement: Require Real Estate Partnerships To Pay The Taxes They Owe
New York must undertake a new intensive review of the tax returns of investors in real estate partnerships to ensure compliance with tax laws. In an examination of just one year's tax returns (2005), IRS staff estimated that real estate investors underpaid $5 billion in taxes to the federal government and $385 million to New York State.
Underreporting or misreporting of capital gains from real estate investments is the main cause of tax underpayments. Reuters columnist David Cay Johnston, who reported the 2005 IRS data when he wrote for the New York Times, recently wrote that the annual underpayment of New York State taxes in connection with real estate partnerships ranged from $200 to $700 million annually. Johnston also pointed out that New York City alone could be losing out on $40 million annually.
New York could recover as much as $1 billion from prior-year audits, with annual revenues thereafter well over $100 million. The state of Pennsylvania recently recaptured over $700 million by making sure that the investors in Real Estate Partnerships paid the proper taxes on their overall gains.
Fairness: Reform New York's Corporate Alternate Minimum Tax (AMT)
Several significant loopholes that favor multi-state corporations were added to New York's Corporate AMT beginning in 1994 and the AMT rate was cut from 3.5% to 2.5% in 1999 and then to 1.5% in 2005 for non-manufacturers and most recently .75% for manufacturers (manufacturers rate was recently changed in the tax reform package of December 2011).
A Blueprint for Corporate Tax Fairness: Closing Corporate Tax Loopholes & Reforming the Corporate Income Tax
These changes should be repealed or the AMT should be replaced with a variation of the Alternative Minimum Assessment (AMA) adopted by New Jersey in 2002. To ensure that such an assessment would not hurt small business, it should only be applied to businesses with annual gross profits of $5 million or more.
We need to level the playing field between large and small businesses by making sure that large multinational corporations pay a minimum corporate income tax in NYS. NYS should increase the Corporate AMT to where it was a decade ago (3.5%) which would generate hundreds of millions in additional revenue.
Tax Nonresident Hedge Fund Management Fees
In his 2010 Executive Budget proposal, Governor Paterson proposed to "expand the nonresident personal income tax to include income received from hedge fund management fees."
As the governor's proposal explained, "Currently, only a small portion of such income is taxed as compensation, with the remainder deemed tax-free capital gains. This proposal would result inequal treatment of this income for residents and nonresidents." This proposal would generate $50 million in additional revenue.
Eliminate the Carried Interest Exemption Under New York City's Unincorporated Business Tax
The State Legislature should eliminate the carried interest exemption loophole in the New York City Unincorporated Business Tax, to put the taxation of private equity and hedge funds on the same footing as that of thousands of smaller businesses. Right now, the City Unincorporated Business Tax taxes fees received by managing partners in private equity and hedge funds but actually exempts profits from taxation.
"Carried interest" is the technical industry term for the profit share received by managing partners (usually 20 percent of pooled investment profits) in hedge funds - anyone else would call it corporate profits.
The New York City Independent Budget Office estimated that eliminating the carried interest exemption for the Unincorporated Business Tax would yield $200 million a year for New York City. This reform was recently supported by Mayor Bloomberg. Transparency Crackdown on Schemes that Create "Nowhere Income"
Multi-state corporations pay no taxes on profits attributable to sales made in states in which they do not have a physical presence. To address this situation, 28 of the 45 states with corporate income taxes, including California, Texas and Utah have enacted "throw-back" or "throw-out" rules to limit this drain on state revenues.
In contrast, New York actually went backwards on this issue in 2005, instituting a wasteful "Single Sales Factor" method for apportioning multi-state corporate profits that actually increase "nowhere income" and opportunities to evade taxes.
It's time to institute reforms that have worked for other states. Require Public Disclosure of Corporate Tax Payments for Publicly-Traded Companies Revenue neutral, but disclosure and transparency measures are a good addition to any corporate tax reform package.
We urge the state to adopt corporate tax disclosure for publicly traded firms subject to taxation under 9-A and 32 and any successor taxes. These and other corporate tax reforms are supported by a broad range of community, labor, student, faith and Occupy groups from across New York - for more information visit 99PercentNY.org.
Seniors First press conference-- save Golden Hill, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, EPIC-- join us!...
[let us know asap if you can join us for Seniors First press conference tomorrow (Weds. Apr. 11th) 12:30 pm in front of Ulster County Golden Hill Health Care Center at 99 Golden Hill Drive (off Rt. 32)!...we're not just going to be talking about how county nursing homes like Ulster's shouldn't be privatized; we're also going to be talking about how ridiculous it is that so many in both GOP and Dem power structure in both Washington and Albany have repeatedly thrown senior citizens under the bus!...see below-- and again-- call us at 845-444-0599 if you can come out!...Joel]
[county nursing homes are near and dear to me; I went nine days without food in September 1998 to protest Dutchess GOP privatizing/closing the Millbrook Infirmary]
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[thirteen reasons here to join us for this tomorrow-- if you need more convincing!]
1. "Obama Puts Social Security, Medicare Cuts on the Table" [Reuters 7/11/11]
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/07/07/obama-puts-social-security-medicare-cuts-on-the-table/
2. Chris Gibson voted to destroy Medicare through voucherization last year:
http://dutchessdemocracy. blogspot.com/2011/08/truth-re-gibson-anti-senior-anti.html.
3. Chris Gibson has also received $46,000 from his insurance industry crony buddies over just the last few years alone, according to Maplight.org:
http://maplight.org/us-congress/legislator/1461-chris-gibson.
4. 81% of Americans support taxing millionaires/billionaires more to solve federal budget problems (Mar. 2011 NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll).
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/7333/what_americans_want_the_peoples_budget
5. 78% of Americans support protecting Medicare from cuts; 69% of Americans support protecting Medicaid from any cuts (April 2011 ABC News Washington Post poll).
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/poll-shows-americans-oppose-entitlement-cuts-to-deal-with-debt-problem/2011/04/19/AFoiAH9D_story.html
6. Under Cuomo just last year, $36 million was cut from Elderly Prescription Insurance Coverage program:
http://www.change.org/petitions/the-petition-to-fully-fund-new-york-states-elderly-prescription-insurance-coverage-program.
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7. "The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities recently reported that 91% of entitlements go to the elderly or disabled, or to members of working households needing supplemental assistance. Only 9% of entitlement dollars go to non-working but employable individuals, and most of that is for medical care, unemployment, and survivor benefits. Beyond the fact that we're 'entitled' to Social Security and Medicare because we pay for them, these two government-run programs have been largely self-sustaining while supporting the needs of millions of Americans. Medicare is much less costly than private health care. Social Security, which functions with a surplus, would not be in danger of a long-term shortfall if the richest 10% (those making over the $106,800 cutoff) paid their full share."
[from "Five Preposterous, Persistent Conservative Myths" by Paul Buchheit:
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/04/02-0]
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8. Finally-- most importantly-- this below from SaveGoldenHill.com...
Save Golden Hill-Introduction
The issue of the 280-bed Golden Hill Health Care Center is one that should concern every member of the community. This goes beyond tax dollars. It is about providing local, quality care for those Ulster County residents who can no longer care for themselves.
The following are facts that we feel are important for the public to understand regarding this issue. For more detailed information, please visit the other pages and links at this site.
Subsidy:
Golden Hill Health Care Center is the only county department that is set up as an Enterprise Fund. As such, Golden Hill operates under a budget that is entirely independent of the county budget. All expenses including employee salaries and benefits are included in this budget. The only funding Golden Hill receives from the county is in the form of a subsidy if expenses exceed the revenues received from Medicaid, Medicare and private pay. The County Executive, and his staff had projected a county subsidy to Golden Hill of $4.2 million dollars for 2011, but the actual subsidy stands at just $1.2 Million. Over the past 20 years, the subsidy has varied, and in some years (as recently as 2009), there was no subsidy needed at all. $1.2 Million accounts for just 1/3 of a percent of the total county budget of $352 million.
Renovate or Rebuild:
You have probably heard that studies done a number of years ago on the sewer and water systems beneath the building revealed that they are failing, and need to be replaced. However, these studies are outdated and are disputed by some within the legislature and at Golden Hill. Despite the questionable validity of these studies, they have long been debating the decision to either renovate the existing structure or build a new facility. Should they choose to renovate or build new, the cost would be 70 – 90% reimbursed, including interest, by the state, leaving the county to bear only a fraction of the burden. In addition, a new facility could be designed to be more energy efficient and provide a wider range of services that may increase revenue, thereby eliminating the need for any county subsidy.
Privatization:
Some may wonder – why not sell the nursing home to a private corporation? In fact, one local politician was recently quoted as saying “I believe that government shouldn’t be in any business that can be run and probably better managed in the private sector.” Government’s role is to do in society that which is not done by the private sector. The private sector does not want to care for complex residents who have no means to pay. Private nursing homes are in the business of making money. They go into the hospitals and cherry-pick residents based on their profitability. Residents requiring complex care or who do not have the ability to pay for private care, may not be accepted in the private home, and may be forced to go out of the county or even out-of-state for nursing home care.
Employees:
People wonder why we talk about employees losing their jobs if the nursing home is sold. Private nursing homes have lower staff-to-patient ratios, meaning, they employ fewer people. The current county employees (many of whom have worked at GHHCC for 20 years or more) would be laid off and then would have to compete with all other applicants to apply for a job with the new nursing home. Only a fraction of those employees would be hired, and likely at a much lower rate of pay. This would result in a higher unemployment rate, lower sales tax revenues and more than likely, higher home foreclosure rates.
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9. Fact: Albany County still has their county-owned/run nursing home.
"Due to annual budget concerns, this marks the third straight year that Albany County Nursing Home supporters have been forced to rally before the County Legislature to save the facility from closing. Both in 2010 and 2011, the County Executive’s budget eliminated nursing home funding, only to have county lawmakers restore it in the end. The battle continues for 2012."
http://albanycountynursinghomecares.org/news_stories/CountyStories/tapcaphearing.html
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10. "Nursing Home Privatization: What is the Human Cost in Long Term Care?"
Authors: Steve Lopez
Publication Date: May 1, 1998
http://keystoneresearch.org/publications/research/nursing-home-privatization-what-human-cost
In response to increasing financial pressure and cuts in reimbursement, Pennsylvania county governments are considering privatizing countyowned nursing homes. The idea of saving money by turning county nursing homes over to private operators appeals to county leaders seeking to relieve budget pressures. But what happens to the quality of care when counties turn their nursing homes over to private firms?
This report investigates the effects of privatization or attempted privatization on the quality of care at several county and former county nursing homes in western Pennsylvania: Allegheny County’s John J. Kane Regional Centers, where privatization was proposed but not implemented; Comfort Home, which remained public but whose operation was taken over by a for-profit management company; and Chelsea Manor, which was sold outright to a nonprofit entity created by the county for the purpose of buying the facility. The report compares these homes with one another and with Green Gables, a private nursing home that is characterized by low wages, high employee turnover, and poor quality of care.1
The study draws the following conclusions:
• Although staffing levels declined whether or not privatization was ultimately carried out, the most significant staffing cuts occurred where privatization was taken furthest. After the privatization of Chelsea Manor (the home sold to a newly created private non-profit organization), staffing levels appeared to be nearly identical to those at the low-quality private home—a home where understaffing led state investigators to suspend admissions temporarily in 1997.
•Workers’ wages and employee turnover, two factors affecting care continuity, were most negatively affected at the home where privatization proceeded furthest. At the Kanes and Comfort home (where collective bargaining continued), workers’wages, benefits, and employee turnover remained stable. At Chelsea Manor, wages fell to levels almost identical to those at Green Gables (where staff turnover was rampant). Turnover at Chelsea Manor appeared to be increasing towards that at Green Gables.
• At both homes where some form of privatization was implemented, workers complained about shortages of medical and patient care supplies. Both of these homes seemed to have a more serious problem in this area than the Kanes, but at neither home was the problem as serious as at Green Gables.
• The quality of care at all three of the county and former county homes deteriorated, regardless of whether privatization was actually carried out or only proposed. Once again the worst declines in quality occurred where privatization was taken furthest. After privatization, Chelsea Manor began to develop a pattern of unexplained resident injuries, some of which were not properly investigated or reported. Chelsea Manor’s problems were similar in nature, though not in extent, to quality problems at Green Gables, where several hundred such incidents occurred in a recent 18-month period.
• Even the best homes in the study, the Kanes and Comfort Home, are now unable to meet all the physical, emotional, and social needs of their residents, even though they exceed federal and state standards for staffing ratios. All of the nursing homes described in this report, in varying degrees of urgency, need more nurses’aides.
• As do the Kanes, county nursing homes across Pennsylvania have much lower turnover among nurses’ aides than is typical for private homes. Combined with the case studies, this strongly suggests that nursing home privatization may, in many cases, worsen the quality of care.
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11. "Buyer for Ulster County's Golden Hill Health Care Center needed by September"
Published: Wednesday, April 04, 2012
by PATRICIA DOXSEY
Freeman staff
pdoxsey@freemanonline.com; twitter.com/pattiatfreeman
http://www.dailyfreeman.com/articles/2012/04/04/news/doc4f7d01af47c46274990815.txt?viewmode=2
KINGSTON, N.Y. — Members of the Golden Hill Local Development Corp. board of directors say they have to select a buyer for the Ulster County-owned nursing home by the end of September in order to have the sale completed by the end of 2013.
“If we can’t select a buyer by then, we’re behind schedule,” said Marshall Beckman, vice chairman of the board.
Beckman said it will take between 20 and 24 months for the buyer to get state approval to purchase the nursing home license.
“What we don’t want to do is go into 2014 with a continued deficit,” he said.
Ulster County Executive Michael Hein predicted an $8 million gap in the county’s 2012 budget because of Golden Hill, and he has predicted that deficit will continue to grow if county ownership of the 280-bed nursing home continues.
On Wednesday, board members got a first look at the resumes of the four firms vying to help the board select the eventual buyer for Golden Hill.
The firms, from as far away as Chicago, responded to a request for qualifications sent by Deputy County Executive Ed Crannell on behalf of the board.
Responding to the request were Loeb & Troper of New York City, Marcus & Millichap of Chicago, the Center for Governmental Research, of Rochester and Next Wave of Albany.
Board members expect to establish protocols for selecting a consultant at their next meeting. In the meantime, board member Michael Bernholz expects to work with Crannell to determine whether there are any other consultants that should be considered for the task.
Board members expect the consultant to help the board evaluate prospective buyers and pick the one that fits best with the county’s future wants for the nursing home.
In December, legislators, pushed by Hein to agree to sell the nursing home, created the Golden Hill Local Development Corp., transferred to it the ownership of the nursing home and authorized the corporation to bond for up to $10 million.
The corporation will, in turn, pay to the county $8 million to operate the nursing home in 2012.
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12. From http://www.shawangunkjournal.com/2011/12/08/news/1112085.html...
Golden Hill supporters protest outside the county office building.
Ulster County Dispatch
Pawning Gold: County Legislature Votes to Sell Golden Hill
By Paula Sirc
KINGSTON – Seventeen Ulster County lawmakers voted on Monday night to transfer ownership of the county-run nursing facility to a local development corporation, with the goal of selling it to a private owner by 2013.
The Legislature also voted, 19-13, to adopt the 2012 county budget, a slightly modified version of the one presented by County Executive Michael Hein in early October. Hein's proposed budget was dependent on the sale of the nursing home.
Seven Democrats joined ten Republicans to approve the resolution authorizing the "required steps" to transfer Golden Hill, while 14 members voted against privatization of the 280-bed facility. Legislator Hector Rodriguez, D-New Paltz, abstained from the vote because of a potential conflict of interest with his employer and Legislator Jack Hayes, R-Gardiner, was absent.
The development corporation, which comprises members of the county executive's administration, county legislators and an independently-selected member, will bond, or borrow, $9.3 million against the future sale of the facility, and pay the county $8 million, which will be used to balance the 2012 county budget.
Arguing to keep Golden Hill in county hands, Legislator Carl Belfiglio, R-Esopus, urged the legislative body to "take a step back," saying the idea was foisted upon an unsuspecting legislature by the county executive. "This was shoved into the budget," he said, "and gives too much power to the county executive."
Legislator Susan Zimet, D-New Paltz, said the legislature has been "railroaded."
"Is it appropriate to take the selling of an asset, tie it up in a budget, bond for a deficit hole, at a cost of $1.3 million to the taxpayers and say this is good sound fiscal policy," she asked. "Doing something like this so fast is not a good way to do public service."
County Comptroller Elliott Auerbach and his attorney, Ken Bond, agreed. "This is not an eleventh hour Hail Mary pass," Auerbach said. "I believe it is in Ulster County's best interest to ask some questions."
Prior to Monday's meeting, Legislator Robert Parete, D-Stone Ridge, sent his colleagues his list of questions regarding the LDC, urging them to "proceed with caution until county leaders explain the full ramifications of the LDC."
Parete's questions demonstrate the level of legislative exclusion in the process of creating the LDC. Among the ten questions: what is the appraised value of the property, will the responses to the Golden Hill Request for Proposals will be made public, how many years it will take to transfer full ownership, how much will the corporation finance during the transfer, will the anticipated and unanticipated revenue generated by GH go toward paying down the LDC bond, will the LDC follow all state and local procurement and competitive bidding laws and will the future owner maintain the facility as a 280-bed skilled nursing center.
Legislative Golden Hill supporters had drawn up a last minute amendment that would balance the 2012 budget, not by transfer of the nursing home, but through the sale of other county properties that are "no longer required for public use."
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http://www.woodstockx.com/2011/12/08/legislature-approves-executive-plan-to-sell-health-care-facility-passes-budget-for-2012/
13. Legislature approves executive plan to sell Health Care facility, passes budget for 2012
by Hugh Reynolds on Dec 8, 2011 • 5:00 pm 2 Comments
County executive Michael Hein
Weathering charges of duplicity and secrecy against the Hein administration, and warnings they were acting prematurely and in ignorance, a bare majority of county legislators approved the sale of the Golden Hill Health Facility to a county-run limited development corporation (LDC) on Monday, December 5.
The approving 17 votes (14 against) were almost evenly divided between majority Republicans and Democrats. Jack Hayes of Gardiner was in Florida on vacation. Hector Rodriguez excused himself because of potential conflicts of interest. Rodriguez works for Kingston developer Steve Aaron who has expressed interest in partnering with developers of the 27-acre site. Then, by a 19-14 margin, it approved County Executive Michael Hein’s $363 million budget.
The debate, which stretched through afternoon meetings of legislative committees, conferences among lawyers and then well into the night at the special budget meeting of the legislature, was at times rancorous. Some legislators, like Jim Maloney of Ulster and Carl Belfiglio of Esopus, expressed bewilderment after learning that while a special legislative task force headed by Walter Frey of Saugerties was investigating options on Golden Hill last year, the county executive had secretly engaged an Albany law firm to work out the details of a limited development corporation to sell the facility.
“It has been a long process, most of it done in secret,” Maloney said.
But Hein has said it was the legislature’s inability or refusal to make a decision — and his need for up to $8 million to plug a 2012 budget gap — that forced his hand. Hein argues that his is the “compassionate solution” to the Golden Hill controversy in that it will keep the facility running for the next two years and then under private ownership. Hein said the county could not continue to fund operating deficits at the 40-year old nursing home that next year he predicts will top $5 million. The facility, which some consultants consider outdated, may also need more than $40 million in repairs.
Delay rejected
Legislators and speakers on behalf of Golden Hill argued that a for-profit operation would not provide the level of care patients in the 280-bed facility have been given for almost two generations.
But the majority, with Hein’s prompting, decided the legislature had been given sufficient time to make a decision and that the time for debate was over. Ten legislators who voted on the Hein proposal will not be back next year.
A last-ditch effort by county comptroller Elliott Auerbach failed to change a vote which many had predicted was pre-ordained. Auerbach brought in Kenneth Bond, his special legal consultant and an authority on LDCs, to argue that the legislature was acting without sufficient information and that it should delay its decision into next year.
Ken Ronk of Wallkill was among the many who rejected that notion. “We would be forcing this decision on the next legislature, kicking the can down the road,” he said. Ronk will be the Republican majority leader of that legislature.
Susan Zimet of New Paltz and Don Gregorius of Woodstock were among those who agreed with Bond that the county could designate any asset — including Golden Hill — to raise the $8 million Hein says he needs to balance his budget. Both argued that the legislature itself should form and control an LDC to pursue the sale of surplus properties. It was a measure of the progress of this years-long controversy from avoidance to decision that nobody advanced the notion of the county continuing ownership and operation of Golden Hill. The debate was almost entirely over the best way to construct an LDC — an entity that can manage property and borrow money without voter approval.
Two seldom-shows over the past three months — retiring legislator Frank Felicello of Marlborough and the defeated Frey — appeared and split their votes. Felicello argued vehemently for Golden Hill. Frey said nothing during the regular legislature meeting but chaired a special informational meeting of his Health and Human Services Committee prior to the regular meeting. Committee vice chairman Rob Parete of Accord ran that meeting, with Frey saying little.
Frey’s special legislative committee shut down in July without making any recommendations among the nine options it considered. Hein presented his plan in October.
The budget vote, with Rodriguez rejoining his colleagues, was an anti-climatic affirmative vote, at 19-14. Hein’s $363 million budget was approved with only minor changes.
The process now moves to the naming of a seven-member LDC board of directors. Three members will be chosen by the legislature and three by the executive from a pool of candidates recruited by the executive. None can be public office holders. Those six will elect a seventh from Hein’s pool.
The LDC will have the authority to market and sell the 27-acre Golden Hill site. It does not include other county nearby properties like the abandoned jail, the bus terminal or the mental health building.++
[county nursing homes are near and dear to me; I went nine days without food in September 1998 to protest Dutchess GOP privatizing/closing the Millbrook Infirmary]
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[thirteen reasons here to join us for this tomorrow-- if you need more convincing!]
1. "Obama Puts Social Security, Medicare Cuts on the Table" [Reuters 7/11/11]
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/07/07/obama-puts-social-security-medicare-cuts-on-the-table/
2. Chris Gibson voted to destroy Medicare through voucherization last year:
http://dutchessdemocracy. blogspot.com/2011/08/truth-re-gibson-anti-senior-anti.html.
3. Chris Gibson has also received $46,000 from his insurance industry crony buddies over just the last few years alone, according to Maplight.org:
http://maplight.org/us-congress/legislator/1461-chris-gibson.
4. 81% of Americans support taxing millionaires/billionaires more to solve federal budget problems (Mar. 2011 NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll).
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/7333/what_americans_want_the_peoples_budget
5. 78% of Americans support protecting Medicare from cuts; 69% of Americans support protecting Medicaid from any cuts (April 2011 ABC News Washington Post poll).
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/poll-shows-americans-oppose-entitlement-cuts-to-deal-with-debt-problem/2011/04/19/AFoiAH9D_story.html
6. Under Cuomo just last year, $36 million was cut from Elderly Prescription Insurance Coverage program:
http://www.change.org/petitions/the-petition-to-fully-fund-new-york-states-elderly-prescription-insurance-coverage-program.
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7. "The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities recently reported that 91% of entitlements go to the elderly or disabled, or to members of working households needing supplemental assistance. Only 9% of entitlement dollars go to non-working but employable individuals, and most of that is for medical care, unemployment, and survivor benefits. Beyond the fact that we're 'entitled' to Social Security and Medicare because we pay for them, these two government-run programs have been largely self-sustaining while supporting the needs of millions of Americans. Medicare is much less costly than private health care. Social Security, which functions with a surplus, would not be in danger of a long-term shortfall if the richest 10% (those making over the $106,800 cutoff) paid their full share."
[from "Five Preposterous, Persistent Conservative Myths" by Paul Buchheit:
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/04/02-0]
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8. Finally-- most importantly-- this below from SaveGoldenHill.com...
Save Golden Hill-Introduction
The issue of the 280-bed Golden Hill Health Care Center is one that should concern every member of the community. This goes beyond tax dollars. It is about providing local, quality care for those Ulster County residents who can no longer care for themselves.
The following are facts that we feel are important for the public to understand regarding this issue. For more detailed information, please visit the other pages and links at this site.
Subsidy:
Golden Hill Health Care Center is the only county department that is set up as an Enterprise Fund. As such, Golden Hill operates under a budget that is entirely independent of the county budget. All expenses including employee salaries and benefits are included in this budget. The only funding Golden Hill receives from the county is in the form of a subsidy if expenses exceed the revenues received from Medicaid, Medicare and private pay. The County Executive, and his staff had projected a county subsidy to Golden Hill of $4.2 million dollars for 2011, but the actual subsidy stands at just $1.2 Million. Over the past 20 years, the subsidy has varied, and in some years (as recently as 2009), there was no subsidy needed at all. $1.2 Million accounts for just 1/3 of a percent of the total county budget of $352 million.
Renovate or Rebuild:
You have probably heard that studies done a number of years ago on the sewer and water systems beneath the building revealed that they are failing, and need to be replaced. However, these studies are outdated and are disputed by some within the legislature and at Golden Hill. Despite the questionable validity of these studies, they have long been debating the decision to either renovate the existing structure or build a new facility. Should they choose to renovate or build new, the cost would be 70 – 90% reimbursed, including interest, by the state, leaving the county to bear only a fraction of the burden. In addition, a new facility could be designed to be more energy efficient and provide a wider range of services that may increase revenue, thereby eliminating the need for any county subsidy.
Privatization:
Some may wonder – why not sell the nursing home to a private corporation? In fact, one local politician was recently quoted as saying “I believe that government shouldn’t be in any business that can be run and probably better managed in the private sector.” Government’s role is to do in society that which is not done by the private sector. The private sector does not want to care for complex residents who have no means to pay. Private nursing homes are in the business of making money. They go into the hospitals and cherry-pick residents based on their profitability. Residents requiring complex care or who do not have the ability to pay for private care, may not be accepted in the private home, and may be forced to go out of the county or even out-of-state for nursing home care.
Employees:
People wonder why we talk about employees losing their jobs if the nursing home is sold. Private nursing homes have lower staff-to-patient ratios, meaning, they employ fewer people. The current county employees (many of whom have worked at GHHCC for 20 years or more) would be laid off and then would have to compete with all other applicants to apply for a job with the new nursing home. Only a fraction of those employees would be hired, and likely at a much lower rate of pay. This would result in a higher unemployment rate, lower sales tax revenues and more than likely, higher home foreclosure rates.
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9. Fact: Albany County still has their county-owned/run nursing home.
"Due to annual budget concerns, this marks the third straight year that Albany County Nursing Home supporters have been forced to rally before the County Legislature to save the facility from closing. Both in 2010 and 2011, the County Executive’s budget eliminated nursing home funding, only to have county lawmakers restore it in the end. The battle continues for 2012."
http://albanycountynursinghomecares.org/news_stories/CountyStories/tapcaphearing.html
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10. "Nursing Home Privatization: What is the Human Cost in Long Term Care?"
Authors: Steve Lopez
Publication Date: May 1, 1998
http://keystoneresearch.org/publications/research/nursing-home-privatization-what-human-cost
In response to increasing financial pressure and cuts in reimbursement, Pennsylvania county governments are considering privatizing countyowned nursing homes. The idea of saving money by turning county nursing homes over to private operators appeals to county leaders seeking to relieve budget pressures. But what happens to the quality of care when counties turn their nursing homes over to private firms?
This report investigates the effects of privatization or attempted privatization on the quality of care at several county and former county nursing homes in western Pennsylvania: Allegheny County’s John J. Kane Regional Centers, where privatization was proposed but not implemented; Comfort Home, which remained public but whose operation was taken over by a for-profit management company; and Chelsea Manor, which was sold outright to a nonprofit entity created by the county for the purpose of buying the facility. The report compares these homes with one another and with Green Gables, a private nursing home that is characterized by low wages, high employee turnover, and poor quality of care.1
The study draws the following conclusions:
• Although staffing levels declined whether or not privatization was ultimately carried out, the most significant staffing cuts occurred where privatization was taken furthest. After the privatization of Chelsea Manor (the home sold to a newly created private non-profit organization), staffing levels appeared to be nearly identical to those at the low-quality private home—a home where understaffing led state investigators to suspend admissions temporarily in 1997.
•Workers’ wages and employee turnover, two factors affecting care continuity, were most negatively affected at the home where privatization proceeded furthest. At the Kanes and Comfort home (where collective bargaining continued), workers’wages, benefits, and employee turnover remained stable. At Chelsea Manor, wages fell to levels almost identical to those at Green Gables (where staff turnover was rampant). Turnover at Chelsea Manor appeared to be increasing towards that at Green Gables.
• At both homes where some form of privatization was implemented, workers complained about shortages of medical and patient care supplies. Both of these homes seemed to have a more serious problem in this area than the Kanes, but at neither home was the problem as serious as at Green Gables.
• The quality of care at all three of the county and former county homes deteriorated, regardless of whether privatization was actually carried out or only proposed. Once again the worst declines in quality occurred where privatization was taken furthest. After privatization, Chelsea Manor began to develop a pattern of unexplained resident injuries, some of which were not properly investigated or reported. Chelsea Manor’s problems were similar in nature, though not in extent, to quality problems at Green Gables, where several hundred such incidents occurred in a recent 18-month period.
• Even the best homes in the study, the Kanes and Comfort Home, are now unable to meet all the physical, emotional, and social needs of their residents, even though they exceed federal and state standards for staffing ratios. All of the nursing homes described in this report, in varying degrees of urgency, need more nurses’aides.
• As do the Kanes, county nursing homes across Pennsylvania have much lower turnover among nurses’ aides than is typical for private homes. Combined with the case studies, this strongly suggests that nursing home privatization may, in many cases, worsen the quality of care.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
11. "Buyer for Ulster County's Golden Hill Health Care Center needed by September"
Published: Wednesday, April 04, 2012
by PATRICIA DOXSEY
Freeman staff
pdoxsey@freemanonline.com; twitter.com/pattiatfreeman
http://www.dailyfreeman.com/articles/2012/04/04/news/doc4f7d01af47c46274990815.txt?viewmode=2
KINGSTON, N.Y. — Members of the Golden Hill Local Development Corp. board of directors say they have to select a buyer for the Ulster County-owned nursing home by the end of September in order to have the sale completed by the end of 2013.
“If we can’t select a buyer by then, we’re behind schedule,” said Marshall Beckman, vice chairman of the board.
Beckman said it will take between 20 and 24 months for the buyer to get state approval to purchase the nursing home license.
“What we don’t want to do is go into 2014 with a continued deficit,” he said.
Ulster County Executive Michael Hein predicted an $8 million gap in the county’s 2012 budget because of Golden Hill, and he has predicted that deficit will continue to grow if county ownership of the 280-bed nursing home continues.
On Wednesday, board members got a first look at the resumes of the four firms vying to help the board select the eventual buyer for Golden Hill.
The firms, from as far away as Chicago, responded to a request for qualifications sent by Deputy County Executive Ed Crannell on behalf of the board.
Responding to the request were Loeb & Troper of New York City, Marcus & Millichap of Chicago, the Center for Governmental Research, of Rochester and Next Wave of Albany.
Board members expect to establish protocols for selecting a consultant at their next meeting. In the meantime, board member Michael Bernholz expects to work with Crannell to determine whether there are any other consultants that should be considered for the task.
Board members expect the consultant to help the board evaluate prospective buyers and pick the one that fits best with the county’s future wants for the nursing home.
In December, legislators, pushed by Hein to agree to sell the nursing home, created the Golden Hill Local Development Corp., transferred to it the ownership of the nursing home and authorized the corporation to bond for up to $10 million.
The corporation will, in turn, pay to the county $8 million to operate the nursing home in 2012.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
12. From http://www.shawangunkjournal.com/2011/12/08/news/1112085.html...
Golden Hill supporters protest outside the county office building.
Ulster County Dispatch
Pawning Gold: County Legislature Votes to Sell Golden Hill
By Paula Sirc
KINGSTON – Seventeen Ulster County lawmakers voted on Monday night to transfer ownership of the county-run nursing facility to a local development corporation, with the goal of selling it to a private owner by 2013.
The Legislature also voted, 19-13, to adopt the 2012 county budget, a slightly modified version of the one presented by County Executive Michael Hein in early October. Hein's proposed budget was dependent on the sale of the nursing home.
Seven Democrats joined ten Republicans to approve the resolution authorizing the "required steps" to transfer Golden Hill, while 14 members voted against privatization of the 280-bed facility. Legislator Hector Rodriguez, D-New Paltz, abstained from the vote because of a potential conflict of interest with his employer and Legislator Jack Hayes, R-Gardiner, was absent.
The development corporation, which comprises members of the county executive's administration, county legislators and an independently-selected member, will bond, or borrow, $9.3 million against the future sale of the facility, and pay the county $8 million, which will be used to balance the 2012 county budget.
Arguing to keep Golden Hill in county hands, Legislator Carl Belfiglio, R-Esopus, urged the legislative body to "take a step back," saying the idea was foisted upon an unsuspecting legislature by the county executive. "This was shoved into the budget," he said, "and gives too much power to the county executive."
Legislator Susan Zimet, D-New Paltz, said the legislature has been "railroaded."
"Is it appropriate to take the selling of an asset, tie it up in a budget, bond for a deficit hole, at a cost of $1.3 million to the taxpayers and say this is good sound fiscal policy," she asked. "Doing something like this so fast is not a good way to do public service."
County Comptroller Elliott Auerbach and his attorney, Ken Bond, agreed. "This is not an eleventh hour Hail Mary pass," Auerbach said. "I believe it is in Ulster County's best interest to ask some questions."
Prior to Monday's meeting, Legislator Robert Parete, D-Stone Ridge, sent his colleagues his list of questions regarding the LDC, urging them to "proceed with caution until county leaders explain the full ramifications of the LDC."
Parete's questions demonstrate the level of legislative exclusion in the process of creating the LDC. Among the ten questions: what is the appraised value of the property, will the responses to the Golden Hill Request for Proposals will be made public, how many years it will take to transfer full ownership, how much will the corporation finance during the transfer, will the anticipated and unanticipated revenue generated by GH go toward paying down the LDC bond, will the LDC follow all state and local procurement and competitive bidding laws and will the future owner maintain the facility as a 280-bed skilled nursing center.
Legislative Golden Hill supporters had drawn up a last minute amendment that would balance the 2012 budget, not by transfer of the nursing home, but through the sale of other county properties that are "no longer required for public use."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
http://www.woodstockx.com/2011/12/08/legislature-approves-executive-plan-to-sell-health-care-facility-passes-budget-for-2012/
13. Legislature approves executive plan to sell Health Care facility, passes budget for 2012
by Hugh Reynolds on Dec 8, 2011 • 5:00 pm 2 Comments
County executive Michael Hein
Weathering charges of duplicity and secrecy against the Hein administration, and warnings they were acting prematurely and in ignorance, a bare majority of county legislators approved the sale of the Golden Hill Health Facility to a county-run limited development corporation (LDC) on Monday, December 5.
The approving 17 votes (14 against) were almost evenly divided between majority Republicans and Democrats. Jack Hayes of Gardiner was in Florida on vacation. Hector Rodriguez excused himself because of potential conflicts of interest. Rodriguez works for Kingston developer Steve Aaron who has expressed interest in partnering with developers of the 27-acre site. Then, by a 19-14 margin, it approved County Executive Michael Hein’s $363 million budget.
The debate, which stretched through afternoon meetings of legislative committees, conferences among lawyers and then well into the night at the special budget meeting of the legislature, was at times rancorous. Some legislators, like Jim Maloney of Ulster and Carl Belfiglio of Esopus, expressed bewilderment after learning that while a special legislative task force headed by Walter Frey of Saugerties was investigating options on Golden Hill last year, the county executive had secretly engaged an Albany law firm to work out the details of a limited development corporation to sell the facility.
“It has been a long process, most of it done in secret,” Maloney said.
But Hein has said it was the legislature’s inability or refusal to make a decision — and his need for up to $8 million to plug a 2012 budget gap — that forced his hand. Hein argues that his is the “compassionate solution” to the Golden Hill controversy in that it will keep the facility running for the next two years and then under private ownership. Hein said the county could not continue to fund operating deficits at the 40-year old nursing home that next year he predicts will top $5 million. The facility, which some consultants consider outdated, may also need more than $40 million in repairs.
Delay rejected
Legislators and speakers on behalf of Golden Hill argued that a for-profit operation would not provide the level of care patients in the 280-bed facility have been given for almost two generations.
But the majority, with Hein’s prompting, decided the legislature had been given sufficient time to make a decision and that the time for debate was over. Ten legislators who voted on the Hein proposal will not be back next year.
A last-ditch effort by county comptroller Elliott Auerbach failed to change a vote which many had predicted was pre-ordained. Auerbach brought in Kenneth Bond, his special legal consultant and an authority on LDCs, to argue that the legislature was acting without sufficient information and that it should delay its decision into next year.
Ken Ronk of Wallkill was among the many who rejected that notion. “We would be forcing this decision on the next legislature, kicking the can down the road,” he said. Ronk will be the Republican majority leader of that legislature.
Susan Zimet of New Paltz and Don Gregorius of Woodstock were among those who agreed with Bond that the county could designate any asset — including Golden Hill — to raise the $8 million Hein says he needs to balance his budget. Both argued that the legislature itself should form and control an LDC to pursue the sale of surplus properties. It was a measure of the progress of this years-long controversy from avoidance to decision that nobody advanced the notion of the county continuing ownership and operation of Golden Hill. The debate was almost entirely over the best way to construct an LDC — an entity that can manage property and borrow money without voter approval.
Two seldom-shows over the past three months — retiring legislator Frank Felicello of Marlborough and the defeated Frey — appeared and split their votes. Felicello argued vehemently for Golden Hill. Frey said nothing during the regular legislature meeting but chaired a special informational meeting of his Health and Human Services Committee prior to the regular meeting. Committee vice chairman Rob Parete of Accord ran that meeting, with Frey saying little.
Frey’s special legislative committee shut down in July without making any recommendations among the nine options it considered. Hein presented his plan in October.
The budget vote, with Rodriguez rejoining his colleagues, was an anti-climatic affirmative vote, at 19-14. Hein’s $363 million budget was approved with only minor changes.
The process now moves to the naming of a seven-member LDC board of directors. Three members will be chosen by the legislature and three by the executive from a pool of candidates recruited by the executive. None can be public office holders. Those six will elect a seventh from Hein’s pool.
The LDC will have the authority to market and sell the 27-acre Golden Hill site. It does not include other county nearby properties like the abandoned jail, the bus terminal or the mental health building.++
petition crunch time-- 500 so far-- need 1000 more by Sun. Apr. 14th-- LET'S GO!...
[recall Tuesday's Poughkeepsie Journal: primary is toss-up; Hinchey
not ready to endorse Schreibman:
"Hinchey is not taking sides in the Hudson Valley Democratic primary
battle between attorney Julian Schreibman of Ulster County and
Dutchess County Legislator Joel Tyner...'Whoever the (eventual)
candidate is, I intend to help them,' Hinchey said."
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20120403/NEWS01/304030016/Hinchey-Better-stronger-after-cancer
]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Hi all...
Thanks to all-- so so so so so much-- for the 500 petition signatures
we've collected so far for campaign!
In just ten days-- on Monday Apr. 16th-- we have to present at least
946 petition signatures to the NYS Board of Elections offices in
Albany (really should be 2000+ to be safe; GOP may disqualify many)...
[biggest way you can help now-- to collect petition sig.'s; and ask
your family/friends/co-workers to help;
do the math folks: if each of 30 Team Tyner volunteers got just 20
signatures this weekend, means 600!]
Hopefully with your help we can collect hundreds more petition
signatures today/tomorrow/Sunday...
[Easter Sunday not great for going door to door-- but good for
standing in front of supermarkets folks; again: happy Passover all;
see http://www.tikkun.org/nextgen/passover-haggadah-supplement-2011-2
]
So please-- if you can-- join us tomorrow (Sat.) for a crucial day of
door-to-door canvass petition blitzing:
-- 10:30 am-- Kingston: Kingston Plaza (in front of MAC Fitness)
-- Noon-- Saugerties: Inquiring Mind Bookstore (200 Main Street--
corner of Main/Partition streets)
-- 3:30 pm-- Hudson: Columbia County Courthouse gazebo (401 Union Street)
[note-- I myself have to attend Justice for Trayvon rally in
Poughkeepsie tomorrow noon-- but I'll be in Kingston in morning after
my WHVW 950 AM radio show-- and I can also meet you all in Hudson
too; can't break commitment to be at rally-- crucial to
getting/keeping petition volunteer activists motivated]
Also...sorry to so blunt about this...but if any of you know folks
with $$$...now is time to ask 'em for it!...
250 brand-new lawn signs will be in today/tomorrow-- please send what
you can asap to us at Joel for Congress, 324 Browns Pond Road,
Staatsburg, NY 12580-- need $1000 to pay for 'em!...
Also-- thx tons to Cameron Williams and Gloria Waslyn for fronting
$300 cost for 1000 double-sided, full-color pieces of campaign lit; I
myself have only so far been able to reimburse them for $80 of this--
please if you can-- step up to the plate if possible to help Gloria
and Cameron defray costs of this, k?...
[am about to drive to meet Burr Hubbell to pick up $250 contribution;
Beacon's Tom Baldino gave $500; Duncan Christy donated $900 for lawn
signs; Peter Leonard $500 as well-- come on folks-- help out!]
Official petition here--
http://www.joelforcongress.org/sites/default/files/Joel.pdf -- expand
it to legal-size paper re: law-- call us at 845-444-0599-- we'll send
you petition!...we need Dem signatures collected in Dutchess,
Columbia, Greene, Rensselaer, Delaware, Otsego, Sullivan, Ulster,
Schoharie, Montgomery;
Cong. district maps:
https://www.nyed.uscourts.gov/pub/docs/cv/324457/1.11.cv.5632.6729180.2.pdf
...
Note-- we'll also be having a Kingston campaign HQ opening/kickoff
Mon. Apr. 9th at 1:30 pm at 15 Gage St. in Kingston-- please if you
can show up to join us for this, k?...(thx again: Matt/Stew
Verrilli!)...
[ http://www.manta.com/c/mmf8cdy/prandoni-fabrication-design offices
of Prandoni Fabrication/Design]
Feel free to also join us tonight 9:30 pm-- I've been invited by Joey
Eppard to speak in between his sets as he plays at
http://www.RondoutMusicLounge.com !...
Don't forget-- next Team Tyner campaign mtg. is this Sunday 7 pm-- at
Manna Jo Greene's Sustainable Living Resource Center-- at 148
Cottekill Rd. in Cottekill (12419); call Manna: 807-1270--
directions...
[or see http://www.Mannajo.weebly.com -- thx tons to MJG for opening
this opportunity up to us!]
Also-- again-- if you didn't know-- let's pack the house at Harmony
at the Wok 'n Roll Cafe at 52 Mill Hill Road in Woodstock this coming
Weds. Apr. 11th 8 pm-- with music from Mighty Xee/One Sky, EC
Lorick/GaiaWolf, Liana Turner, Erayna Cranston Anderson, Julia
Nichols, Salted Bros, Finley & Pagdon, Dirty River (and some dude
named MC Whitebread!)...[lol]
[seriously-- if we can get bunch of new Dems to come out to this
Weds. we can recruit more volunteers!]
Here's a new one-- feel free to join us in Rhinecliff next Friday
Apr. 13th-- Cynthia Owen Philip is hosting a petition party (we'll
have lists of Dems in Rhinecliff) starting at 5:30 pm-- 35 Russell
Avenue!...(call her at 876-3423 for more info; Kelly Street is main
drag in hamlet; she's at Russell/Kelly).
And-- don't forget to also put Sat. Apr. 14th 9 pm on your
calendars-- Mike Nickerson of the Black Swan (66 Broadway in Tivoli)
is letting us do a musical benefit there as well-- with music from
Alexia Evans, Chris Davison, Joe Tobin, more-- start spreadin' the
news!...
Thanks again to you all-- so so so so much for all the time and hard
work you're putting in to this...
[again-- key thing now is this-- to collect petition sig.'s; and ask
your family/friends/co-workers to help!]
More hands make the work light-- so whatever you all can do to spread
word and recruit volunteers...
My connection to Maurice Hinchey is deep and strong; I first met him
in 1994 at his Washington, D.C. offices lobbying for universal
healthcare (single-payer: Medicare for all) with the late great Paul
Miller, Connie Holland, and Max Finestone; kudos to Art Richter (and
his VT daughter Deb!) for pickin' up the torch here locally; I've
been there along side Maurice in trenches fighting for single-payer
for decades...
Unlike The Anointed One, I have long made it 100% clear that I agree
with Maurice Hinchey on these six issues-- that we should save $400
billion a year by expanding Medicare to cover everyone, that we
should bring back FDR's Glass-Steagall Act to break up the big banks,
that our Constitution should be amended to make it clear corporations
aren't people (re: Citizens United/SuperPACs), that NAFTA, CAFTA, and
free trade agreements with Korea, Colombia, and Panama should never
have been passed, that the Fair Elections Now Act should be passed to
make real federal version of Clean Money Clean Elections campaign
reform, and End Excessive Oil Speculation Now should be passed...
But it's not just those six issues -- if you're just as upset as I am
that it's not just Republicans in Washington-- but also too many
Democrats-- that don't seem to be really speaking up against the rush
to war with Iran...aren't speaking up to criminalize
fracking...aren't speaking up against Wall Street (to break up big
banks, tax Wall Street speculation, and truly investigate those
behind destruction of our economy), aren't speaking up against
indefinite detention...aren't speaking up against bipartisan attack
on Medicare/Medicaid, aren't speaking up for a truly sizable public
works/infrastructure jobs program, aren't speaking up for Medicare
for all, aren't speaking up to amend our Constitution to make it
clear corporations aren't people, aren't speaking up Fair Elections
Now legislation (federal version of Clean Money Clean Elections
campaign finance reform), aren't speaking up for fair trade (to get
us out of job-killing NAFTA/GATT/WTO), aren't speaking up for our
troops to come home NOW from Afghanistan, aren't speaking out against
tar sands pipeline, aren't speaking up for our Constitutional
freedoms-- and aren't speaking up for Bradley Manning-- and aren't
speaking up for voting integrity to reject computerized voting
machines...(even Michael Moore reminded us all at Left Forum of this
issue)...
If you're just as upset as I am re: too much bipartisan sell-out on
all those-- help us get signatures!...
Thanks again tons to you all for making this campaign a reality--
together we can get to the next step!..
[pass it on]
Joel
845-444-0599
joeltyner@earthlink.net
http://www.JoelforCongress.org (tell your friends-- PayPal link online here!)
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel (260+ now on board online!)
not ready to endorse Schreibman:
"Hinchey is not taking sides in the Hudson Valley Democratic primary
battle between attorney Julian Schreibman of Ulster County and
Dutchess County Legislator Joel Tyner...'Whoever the (eventual)
candidate is, I intend to help them,' Hinchey said."
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20120403/NEWS01/304030016/Hinchey-Better-stronger-after-cancer
]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Hi all...
Thanks to all-- so so so so so much-- for the 500 petition signatures
we've collected so far for campaign!
In just ten days-- on Monday Apr. 16th-- we have to present at least
946 petition signatures to the NYS Board of Elections offices in
Albany (really should be 2000+ to be safe; GOP may disqualify many)...
[biggest way you can help now-- to collect petition sig.'s; and ask
your family/friends/co-workers to help;
do the math folks: if each of 30 Team Tyner volunteers got just 20
signatures this weekend, means 600!]
Hopefully with your help we can collect hundreds more petition
signatures today/tomorrow/Sunday...
[Easter Sunday not great for going door to door-- but good for
standing in front of supermarkets folks; again: happy Passover all;
see http://www.tikkun.org/nextgen/passover-haggadah-supplement-2011-2
]
So please-- if you can-- join us tomorrow (Sat.) for a crucial day of
door-to-door canvass petition blitzing:
-- 10:30 am-- Kingston: Kingston Plaza (in front of MAC Fitness)
-- Noon-- Saugerties: Inquiring Mind Bookstore (200 Main Street--
corner of Main/Partition streets)
-- 3:30 pm-- Hudson: Columbia County Courthouse gazebo (401 Union Street)
[note-- I myself have to attend Justice for Trayvon rally in
Poughkeepsie tomorrow noon-- but I'll be in Kingston in morning after
my WHVW 950 AM radio show-- and I can also meet you all in Hudson
too; can't break commitment to be at rally-- crucial to
getting/keeping petition volunteer activists motivated]
Also...sorry to so blunt about this...but if any of you know folks
with $$$...now is time to ask 'em for it!...
250 brand-new lawn signs will be in today/tomorrow-- please send what
you can asap to us at Joel for Congress, 324 Browns Pond Road,
Staatsburg, NY 12580-- need $1000 to pay for 'em!...
Also-- thx tons to Cameron Williams and Gloria Waslyn for fronting
$300 cost for 1000 double-sided, full-color pieces of campaign lit; I
myself have only so far been able to reimburse them for $80 of this--
please if you can-- step up to the plate if possible to help Gloria
and Cameron defray costs of this, k?...
[am about to drive to meet Burr Hubbell to pick up $250 contribution;
Beacon's Tom Baldino gave $500; Duncan Christy donated $900 for lawn
signs; Peter Leonard $500 as well-- come on folks-- help out!]
Official petition here--
http://www.joelforcongress.org/sites/default/files/Joel.pdf -- expand
it to legal-size paper re: law-- call us at 845-444-0599-- we'll send
you petition!...we need Dem signatures collected in Dutchess,
Columbia, Greene, Rensselaer, Delaware, Otsego, Sullivan, Ulster,
Schoharie, Montgomery;
Cong. district maps:
https://www.nyed.uscourts.gov/pub/docs/cv/324457/1.11.cv.5632.6729180.2.pdf
...
Note-- we'll also be having a Kingston campaign HQ opening/kickoff
Mon. Apr. 9th at 1:30 pm at 15 Gage St. in Kingston-- please if you
can show up to join us for this, k?...(thx again: Matt/Stew
Verrilli!)...
[ http://www.manta.com/c/mmf8cdy/prandoni-fabrication-design offices
of Prandoni Fabrication/Design]
Feel free to also join us tonight 9:30 pm-- I've been invited by Joey
Eppard to speak in between his sets as he plays at
http://www.RondoutMusicLounge.com !...
Don't forget-- next Team Tyner campaign mtg. is this Sunday 7 pm-- at
Manna Jo Greene's Sustainable Living Resource Center-- at 148
Cottekill Rd. in Cottekill (12419); call Manna: 807-1270--
directions...
[or see http://www.Mannajo.weebly.com -- thx tons to MJG for opening
this opportunity up to us!]
Also-- again-- if you didn't know-- let's pack the house at Harmony
at the Wok 'n Roll Cafe at 52 Mill Hill Road in Woodstock this coming
Weds. Apr. 11th 8 pm-- with music from Mighty Xee/One Sky, EC
Lorick/GaiaWolf, Liana Turner, Erayna Cranston Anderson, Julia
Nichols, Salted Bros, Finley & Pagdon, Dirty River (and some dude
named MC Whitebread!)...[lol]
[seriously-- if we can get bunch of new Dems to come out to this
Weds. we can recruit more volunteers!]
Here's a new one-- feel free to join us in Rhinecliff next Friday
Apr. 13th-- Cynthia Owen Philip is hosting a petition party (we'll
have lists of Dems in Rhinecliff) starting at 5:30 pm-- 35 Russell
Avenue!...(call her at 876-3423 for more info; Kelly Street is main
drag in hamlet; she's at Russell/Kelly).
And-- don't forget to also put Sat. Apr. 14th 9 pm on your
calendars-- Mike Nickerson of the Black Swan (66 Broadway in Tivoli)
is letting us do a musical benefit there as well-- with music from
Alexia Evans, Chris Davison, Joe Tobin, more-- start spreadin' the
news!...
Thanks again to you all-- so so so so much for all the time and hard
work you're putting in to this...
[again-- key thing now is this-- to collect petition sig.'s; and ask
your family/friends/co-workers to help!]
More hands make the work light-- so whatever you all can do to spread
word and recruit volunteers...
My connection to Maurice Hinchey is deep and strong; I first met him
in 1994 at his Washington, D.C. offices lobbying for universal
healthcare (single-payer: Medicare for all) with the late great Paul
Miller, Connie Holland, and Max Finestone; kudos to Art Richter (and
his VT daughter Deb!) for pickin' up the torch here locally; I've
been there along side Maurice in trenches fighting for single-payer
for decades...
Unlike The Anointed One, I have long made it 100% clear that I agree
with Maurice Hinchey on these six issues-- that we should save $400
billion a year by expanding Medicare to cover everyone, that we
should bring back FDR's Glass-Steagall Act to break up the big banks,
that our Constitution should be amended to make it clear corporations
aren't people (re: Citizens United/SuperPACs), that NAFTA, CAFTA, and
free trade agreements with Korea, Colombia, and Panama should never
have been passed, that the Fair Elections Now Act should be passed to
make real federal version of Clean Money Clean Elections campaign
reform, and End Excessive Oil Speculation Now should be passed...
But it's not just those six issues -- if you're just as upset as I am
that it's not just Republicans in Washington-- but also too many
Democrats-- that don't seem to be really speaking up against the rush
to war with Iran...aren't speaking up to criminalize
fracking...aren't speaking up against Wall Street (to break up big
banks, tax Wall Street speculation, and truly investigate those
behind destruction of our economy), aren't speaking up against
indefinite detention...aren't speaking up against bipartisan attack
on Medicare/Medicaid, aren't speaking up for a truly sizable public
works/infrastructure jobs program, aren't speaking up for Medicare
for all, aren't speaking up to amend our Constitution to make it
clear corporations aren't people, aren't speaking up Fair Elections
Now legislation (federal version of Clean Money Clean Elections
campaign finance reform), aren't speaking up for fair trade (to get
us out of job-killing NAFTA/GATT/WTO), aren't speaking up for our
troops to come home NOW from Afghanistan, aren't speaking out against
tar sands pipeline, aren't speaking up for our Constitutional
freedoms-- and aren't speaking up for Bradley Manning-- and aren't
speaking up for voting integrity to reject computerized voting
machines...(even Michael Moore reminded us all at Left Forum of this
issue)...
If you're just as upset as I am re: too much bipartisan sell-out on
all those-- help us get signatures!...
Thanks again tons to you all for making this campaign a reality--
together we can get to the next step!..
[pass it on]
Joel
845-444-0599
joeltyner@earthlink.net
http://www.JoelforCongress.org (tell your friends-- PayPal link online here!)
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel (260+ now on board online!)
rally to save U.S. Postal Service w/APWU @ Hurley Post Office-- spread the word!...
Hi all...
Sorry for such short notice (just got confirmation on this)...
But if you can-- please join us today (Thursday April 5th) at 10:30 am for a press conference/rally
with Deb Szeredy, President of Mid-Hudson American Postal Workers Union #3722, and Diana Cline,
APWU #3722 Director of Organizing and Legislative Representative-- on how ridiculous
it is that the U.S. Postal Service is still forced to pay for its employees'
pensions 75 years ahead of time; Chris Gibson refuses to save the U.S.P.S., refuses
to save our post offices, refuses to save U.S.P.S. jobs or our postal centers!...
Unlike Maurice Hinchey and Paul Tonko, Chris Gibson refuses to join 230 members of the House of
Representatives co-sponsoring the bipartisan United States Postal Service Pension Obligation Recalculation and
Restoration Act of 2011...
[see: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d112:HR01351:@@@P ]
Unlike Maurice Hinchey and Paul Tonko, Chris Gibson also refuses to join 221 members of the House
of Representatives signed on to H.Res.137-- "Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that
the United States Postal Service should take all appropriate measures to ensure the continuation of its 6-day
mail delivery service"...
[see: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d112:HE00137:@@@P ]
Unlike Maurice Hinchey, Chris Gibson also refused to sign on to the bipartisan Mar. 27th letter to
Speaker John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi "to maintain robust mail service, including 6 day delivery and rural post offices, and develop a transformational 21ST Century business model for the USPS"...see:
http://www.savethepostoffice.com/connolly-and-young-call-congress-develop-21st-century-usps-business-model;
http://www.savethepostoffice.com/sites/default/files/Reps%20Connolly%20Young%20et%20al%20letter%20to%20House%20Leadership%20March%2027%202012.pdf...
[our campaign for Congress has also been endorsed by Troy Area Labor Council President Mike Keenan,
Pete Seeger, Josh Fox, Cornel West, Medea Benjamin, Dutchess County Democratic
Elections Commissioner Fran Knapp, and 260 more @ http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel .]
Recall blog post from yours truly on all this last Sept. 26th (big HVALF rally in solidarity with postal workers):
http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2011/09/rally-to-save-our-post-officepostal.html .
No wonder this gem below from Jim Hightower originally posted Mar. 28th is still
the most popular article at CommonDreams.org:
"The Truth About the U.S. Postal Service"
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/03/28
Hope to see you all there today!...
Joel
845-444-0599/876-2488
joeltyner@earthlink.net
JoelforCongress.org
www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel
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From http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/03/28 ...
Published on Wednesday, March 28, 2012 by Creators.com
The Truth About the US Postal Service
by Jim Hightower
What does 50 cents buy these days? Not a cuppa joe, a pack of gum or a newspaper. But you can get a steal of deal for a 50-cent piece: a first-class stamp. Plus a nickel in change.
Each day, six days a week, letter carriers traverse 4 million miles toting an average of 563 million pieces of mail, reaching the very doorsteps of our individual homes and workplaces in every single community in America. From the gated enclaves and penthouses of the uber-wealthy to the inner-city ghettos and rural colonias of America's poorest families, the U.S. Postal Service literally delivers. All for 45 cents. The USPS is an unmatched bargain, a civic treasure, a genuine public good that links all people and communities into one nation.
So, naturally, it must be destroyed.
For the past several months, the laissez-fairyland blogosphere, assorted corporate front groups, a howling pack of congressional right-wingers and a bunch of lazy mass media sources have been pounding out a steadily rising drumbeat to warn that our postal service faces impending doom. It's "broke," they exclaim; USPS "nears collapse"; it's "a full-blown financial crisis!"
These gloomsayers claim the national mail agency is bogged down with too many overpaid workers and costly brick-and-mortar facilities, so it can't keep up with the instant messaging of Internet services and such nimble corporate competitors as FedEx. Thus, say these contrivers of their own conventional wisdom, the Postal Service is unprofitable and is costing taxpayers billions of dollars a year in losses. Wrong.
Since 1971, the postal service has not taken a dime from taxpayers. All of its operations — including the remarkable convenience of 32,000 local post offices — are paid for by peddling stamps and other products.
The privatizers squawk that USPS has gone some $13 billion in the hole during the past four years — a private corporation would go broke with that record! (Actually, private corporations tend to go to Washington rather than go broke, getting taxpayer bailouts to cover their losses.) The Postal Service is NOT broke. Indeed, in those four years of loudly deplored "losses," the service actually produced a $700 million operational profit (despite the worst economy since the Great Depression).
What's going on here? Right-wing sabotage of USPS financing, that's what.
In 2006, the Bush White House and Congress whacked the post office with the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act — an incredible piece of ugliness requiring the agency to PRE-PAY the health care benefits not only of current employees, but also of all employees who'll retire during the next 75 years. Yes, that includes employees who're not yet born!
No other agency and no corporation has to do this. Worse, this ridiculous law demands that USPS fully fund this seven-decade burden by 2016. Imagine the shrieks of outrage if Congress tried to slap FedEx or other private firms with such an onerous requirement.
This politically motivated mandate is costing the Postal Service $5.5 billion a year — money taken right out of postage revenue that could be going to services. That's the real source of the "financial crisis" squeezing America's post offices.
In addition, due to a 40-year-old accounting error, the federal Office of Personnel Management has overcharged the post office by as much as $80 billion for payments into the Civil Service Retirement System. This means that USPS has had billions of its sales dollars erroneously diverted into the treasury. Restore the agency's access to its own postage money, and the impending "collapse" goes away.
The post office is more than a bunch of buildings — it's a community center and, for many towns, an essential part of the local identity, as well as a tangible link to the rest of the nation. As former Sen. Jennings Randolph poignantly observed, "When the local post office is closed, the flag comes down." The corporatizer crowd doesn't grasp that going after this particular government program is messing with the human connection and genuine affection that it engenders.
America's postal service is a true public service, a grassroots people's asset that has even more potential than we're presently tapping to serve the democratic ideal of the common good. Why the hell would we let an elite of small-minded profiteers, ranting ideologues and their political hirelings drop-kick this jewel through the goal posts of corporate greed? This is not a fight merely to save 32,000 post offices and the middle-class jobs they provide — but to advance the BIG IDEA of America itself, the bold, historic notion that "yes, we can" create a society in which we're all in it together.
© 2012 Creators Syndicate
National radio commentator, writer, public speaker, and author of the book, Swim Against The Current: Even A Dead Fish Can Go With The Flow, Jim Hightower has spent three decades battling the Powers That Be on behalf of the Powers That Ought To Be - consumers, working families, environmentalists, small businesses, and just-plain-folks.
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From http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2011/09/rally-to-save-our-post-officepostal.html ...
[blog post here from yours truly last Sept. 26th]
Rally to save our post office/postal service from Gibson/Hayworth/GOP!...
Come out if you can to join us tomorrow (Tues. Sept. 27th) 4-6 pm for the Hudson Valley Area Labor Federation's Save America's Postal Service Rally-- in Newburgh at 17K/Route & 300 at corner w/TGIF!....
[see SavethePostOffice.com-- there will literally be hundreds of rallies like this all across the U.S. tomorrow on this-- organized by American Postal Workers Union, National Association of Letter Carriers, National Postal Mail Handlers Union, National Rural Letter Carriers' Association, MoveOn, RebuildtheDream.com, many more]
Fact: "If the Postal Service were a private company, it would not have to file for bankruptcy because it would not be subject to a USPS-specific congressional mandate to pre-fund future retiree health benefits. As it is, it is the only federal agency required to do so: It must pre-fund these benefits some 75 years into the future on a massively accelerated schedule. This postal-only mandate, which costs the USPS $5.5 billion per year, accounts for 100 percent of the Postal Service’s $20 billion in losses over the past four years. It also accounts for 100 percent of the rise in the Postal Service’s debt in recent years. Without the mandate, the USPS would have been profitable over the past four years and it would have significant borrowing authority to ride out the bad economy. It would not have had to file for bankruptcy."
[from "The Big Lie About 'Postal Bankruptcy'":
http://postalemployeenetwork.com/news/2011/08/the-big-lie-about-postal-bankruptcy/]
Recall-- "The U.S. Postal Service is considering cutting as many as 120,000 jobs...The post office has cut 110,000 jobs over the last four years and is currently engaged in eliminating 7,500 administrative staff...In addition the post office recently said it is considering closing 3,653 post offices, stations and other facilities...]
[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/11/us-postal-service-jobs-benefits-layoffs_n_924927.html]
Sign the petition here: http://www.saveamericaspostalservice.org/petition.html .
Call Congress-- (866) 338-1015!...
[pass it on]
Joel
845-444-0599
joeltyner@earthlink.net
JoelforCongress.org
DutchessDemocracy.blogspot.com
PetitionOnline.com/Joel (200+ on board!)
p.s. Dutchess County residents-- see just a bit below-- letter I just sent to my 24 colleagues in our County Legislature here looking for solidarity/action on this-- feel free to follow up with your own to them on this-- email countylegislators@co.dutchess.ny.us (fwd!)...
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From: "Brian Pugh, HVALF"
Subject: Tuesday: Save 120,000 Jobs
Date: Sep 26, 2011 12:00 PM
Phone: (845) 567-7760 Fax: (845) 567-7742
Email: esoto@hvalf.org Website: www.hvalf.org
Postal workers in NY and across the nation are under attack and desperately need our help.
Join us this Tuesday, Sept. 27, for a national day of action to protect the United States Postal Service (USPS) and save 120,000 jobs.
Rallies are happening in all 50 states—most take place from 4–5:30 p.m. local time.
Save America’s Postal Service Rally
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Time: 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Location: 17K/Route & 300
Corner w/TGIF Newburgh, NY
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From: Joel Tyner
To: countylegislators@co.dutchess.ny.us
Subject: Colleagues-- let's pull together to send strong message-- save the U.S. Postal Service!...
Date: Sep 26, 2011 10:19 AM
Hi all...
As no doubt many of you are aware, unfortunately the U.S. Postal Service has come under pressure lately to cut as many as 120,000 jobs, even though the post office has cut 110,000 jobs over the last four years and is currently engaged in eliminating 7,500 administrative staff. In addition, the post office recently said it is also considering closing 3,653 post offices, stations and other facilities-- not good for our communities-- and not good for our economy.
It doesn't have to be this way.
As the American Postal Workers Union, National Association of Letter Carriers, National Postal Mail Handlers Union, National Rural Letter Carriers' Association, MoveOn, RootsAction.org, RebuildtheDream.com, The Nation's Allison Kilkenny, and many others have pointed out there are alternatives-- see SavethePostOffice.com, SaveAmericasPostalService.org, and these three facts below:
Fact: "If the Postal Service were a private company, it would not have to file for bankruptcy because it would not be subject to a USPS-specific congressional mandate to pre-fund future retiree health benefits."
Fact: "As it is, it is the only federal agency required to do so: It must pre-fund these benefits some 75 years into the future on a massively accelerated schedule. This postal-only mandate, which costs the USPS $5.5 billion per year, accounts for 100 percent of the Postal Service’s $20 billion in losses over the past four years."
Fact: "This also accounts for 100 percent of the rise in the Postal Service’s debt in recent years. Without the mandate, the USPS would have been profitable over the past four years and it would have significant borrowing authority to ride out the bad economy. It would not have had to file for bankruptcy."
[above three are from "The Big Lie About 'Postal Bankruptcy'":
http://postalemployeenetwork.com/news/2011/08/the-big-lie-about-postal-bankruptcy/]
Also see:
"Postmasters Calls on Congress to Stop Closing Post Offices and to Let USPS Pension Overpayments Prefund Retiree Health Benefits"
http://postalemployeenetwork.com/news/2011/09/postmasters-calls-on-congress-to-stop-closing-post-offices-and-to-let-usps-pension-overpayments-prefund-retiree-health-benefits/ .
So-- please let me know as soon as possible if you'd like to co-sponsor a resolution or letter to Congress and the President on this, k?
[time's runnin' out!]
Joel
444-0599
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"The Big Lie About 'Postal Bankruptcy'"
http://postalemployeenetwork.com/news/2011/08/the-big-lie-about-postal-bankruptcy/
Posted by postal on Aug 12th, 2011
Yesterday, in a mandatory stand-up talk, Postal Service management all across the country told letter carriers:
“If we were a private company, we would have already filed for bankruptcy and gone through restructuring—much like major automakers did two years ago.”
The Service repeated this claim in a press release distributed to the nation’s news media as well.
Of course, it’s not true. But the USPS seems to think that if it repeats this “Big Lie” often enough, most people—and especially members of Congress—will think it’s true.
So, let’s set the record straight: If the Postal Service were a private company, it would not have to file for bankruptcy because it would not be subject to a USPS-specific congressional mandate to pre-fund future retiree health benefits. As it is, it is the only federal agency required to do so: It must pre-fund these benefits some 75 years into the future on a massively accelerated schedule.
This postal-only mandate, which costs the USPS $5.5 billion per year, accounts for 100 percent of the Postal Service’s $20 billion in losses over the past four years. It also accounts for 100 percent of the rise in the Postal Service’s debt in recent years. Without the mandate, the USPS would have been profitable over the past four years and it would have significant borrowing authority to ride out the bad economy. It would not have had to file for bankruptcy.
In fact, no private company in America is required to pre-fund future retiree health benefits, either by law or private-sector accounting standards. The $47 billion the Postal Service has deposited into its retiree health fund over the past four years would have been available for operating costs. And those companies that voluntarily do pre-fund would never have adopted a crushing schedule to pre-fund 80 percent of future retiree health costs in just 10 years. Nor would they mindlessly stick to such an onerous schedule in the middle of the worst recession in 80 years.
Congress, aided and abetted by the Office of Personnel Management and the General Accountability Office, mandated the destructive pre-funding policy in 2006. The common-sense solution is obvious: Let the Postal Service use the massive surpluses in its pension plans, found by two independent audits, to cover the cost of pre-funding. Indeed, 181 members of the House—from both parties—have co-sponsored legislation to adopt this solution (H.R. 1351). But thanks to the dysfunctional nature of Congress, the bureaucratic blindness of OPM and the Office of Management and Budget, and the single-minded stubbornness of the Congressional Budget Office, which “scores” any change in the pre-funding provisions as increasing the deficit even though no taxpayer funds are involved, the Postal Service now faces a financial crisis in September when the next $5.5 billion payment is due.
Don’t believe the “Big Lie.” The Postal Service is not going bankrupt. Rather, Washington politics is killing it.
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From http://www.SaveAmericasPostalService.org ...
On Tuesday, September 27, from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. (local time), members of the four employee unions of the United States Postal Service—
• American Postal Workers Union
• National Association of Letter Carriers
• National Postal Mail Handlers Union
• National Rural Letter Carriers' Association
—will join forces with members of our communities to send a message to the nation and its Congress.
We are proud to announce the participation of the National Association of Postal Supervisors (NAPS) in the effort to Save America's Postal Service. Click here to read their entire statement.
During these informational rallies, we will visit the home office of each member of the House of Representatives.
We will thank those members who have signed on as co-sponsors of H.R. 1351, a bill that addresses the financial crisis facing the Postal Service.
And we will encourage those who have not signed as co-sponsors of H.R. 1351 to do so.
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http://www.rootsaction.org/featured-actions/251-save-the-post-office-from-gop-sabotage
From: "Jeff Cohen, RootsAction"
Subject: Save the Post Office from GOP Sabotage
Date: Sep 26, 2011 9:16 AM
A decent society requires a postal system that serves everyone, everywhere, at a low price.
In my youth, I was a proud postal worker. Today, hundreds of thousands of Americans are postal workers – the largest unionized workforce we have left.
The U.S. Postal Service is our most trusted government agency. It provides universal service to all Americans – rich or poor, urban or rural. It receives not a penny in taxpayer subsidy.
And it faces destruction – thanks to Republicans in Congress, acting for huge corporations through a manufactured “Shock Doctrine” crisis.
This is an attack on unionized public workers like the attacks on teachers and state workers in Wisconsin and elsewhere.
Help save the post office by forcing a vote on HR 1351, a bill cosponsored by 211 Congress members -- almost half the House of Representatives.
Click to contact Congress and to find out where there's a "Save America’s Postal Service" rally near you tomorrow (Tuesday-- see above).
The postal service would be operating in surplus if not for a bill rammed through the Republican Congress in a voice vote in December 2006, and signed by President Bush. The bill required $5 billion annual PRE-payments toward retiree health benefits for 75 years into the future – “something no other government or private corporation is required to do,” asserts Ralph Nader.
HR 1351, drafted by Democratic Rep. Stephen Lynch, would end this sabotage and save the post office -- without a single penny of taxpayer funding.
Tell your Representative to sign a discharge petition to force HR 1351 to the floor of the full House despite the obstruction of GOP Committee Chair Darrell Issa.
And please forward this email to your friends.
A decent society requires a postal system that serves everyone, everywhere, at a low price.
If corporate forces take over, imagine no more mail delivery or pick up one day.
Imagine all hardcopy communications, including with your elected representatives, subject to the tender mercies of corporate delivery. (Emails to Congress are already handled by Lockheed Martin.)
As the great Joni Mitchell told us: “You don't know what you've got till it's gone.”
Take action now.
Sincerely,
Jeff Cohen
and the RootsAction team
P.S. Our small staff is supported by contributions from people like you; your donations are greatly appreciated.
Resources:
“The Great Postal Heist” video
Statement from National Association of Letter Carriers local leader
Ralph Nader letter
Column by American Postal Workers Union local leader
Congress' Lockheed Martin Internet
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From http://pol.moveon.org/event/events/event.html?event_id=121672 ...
September Recess Action
Congressman Tonko's Office,,Albany, 61 Columbia St
Albany, NY 12210
Tuesday, September 27th, 4:00 PM
Let's keep the momentum going! Please sign up for this gathering right away!
Message from your host, Susan Weber: "Right wingnuts propose to CUT middle-class postal service jobs in the middle of an economic crisis. How will that help grow our economy? We need JOBS, not CUTS!!!
Let's help publicize this travesty with our coalition union partners. The postal service is NOT broke. Congress is requiring them to up front fund 75 years of retirement costs. WHAT?
Again, we are being lied to. The USPS is not broke. No one needs to be laid off; Saturday delivery doesn't need to end; the postal service doesn't need to be privatized. Congress needs to pass HR 1351, to repeal the requirement that USPS pre-fund 75 yrs of retirement benefits!
Or-- go to Gibson's office, 136 Glen St, Glens Falls, 4 to 5:30 pm Tuesday and join the postal workers and AFL to protest there! Questions, call Susan at 518-462-3247 or 518-656-9558."
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"Postmasters Calls on Congress to Stop Closing Post Offices and to Let USPS Pension Overpayments Prefund Retiree Health Benefits"
http://postalemployeenetwork.com/news/2011/09/postmasters-calls-on-congress-to-stop-closing-post-offices-and-to-let-usps-pension-overpayments-prefund-retiree-health-benefits/
Posted by postal on Sep 6th, 2011
National League of Postmasters Calls on Congress to Stop Closing Post Offices and to Let USPS Pension Overpayments Prefund Retiree Health Benefits
USPS Pension and Retiree Health Benefits Payments Should be Realigned;
USPS Should Not Withdraw from the Federal Retiree Health Benefit Plan.
ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA – “Enough is enough. Congress must act. The time to act is now and the action to take is to allow the Postal Service’s pension overpayments to be transferred to its retiree health benefit fund,” said LEAGUE President Mark Strong in a statement submitted today to the Senate hearing on the Postal Service crisis. “This would allow the Postal Service to stop closing rural post offices and stop devastating thousands of small rural communities,” he added.
Today’s hearing, chaired by Senator Joseph Lieberman (CT), was before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Entitled “U.S. Postal Service in Crisis: Proposals to Prevent a Postal Shutdown,” today’s hearing focused on the current conditions of the Postal Service and the fact that Congress will not let it use its pension overpayments to prefund its retiree health benefit obligations.
“Allowing the Postal Service to use those overpayments, calculated by actuaries to be as much as $75 billion, to prefund the retiree health benefit obligation would relieve the Postal Service’s current financial stress and allow it to calmly refocus on the future,” said Strong. “It would also help the economy and help prevent a double-dip recession,” added Strong. “Ideas such as withdrawing from the Federal Employee Health Plan are terrible ideas, should not be taken seriously, and simply reflect the frustration that top Postal Service management feels,” he concluded.
Because of the way the law is written, the Postal Service must make more than $8 billion per year in pension and retiree health benefit payments, despite pension overpayments of up to $75 billion. While the Postal Service has been losing billions of dollars each year since the recession started, if the overpayments were officially recognized and credited towards the retiree health benefit obligation, and current payments stopped, it would be running in the black,” said Robert Brinkmann, the LEAGUE’s Legislative Counsel. This “crisis” is a crisis that, while precipitated by the recession, has been created by Congress, and it is a crisis that only Congress can resolve.
The National League of Postmasters has been representing active and retired postmasters throughout the country since the later part of the 19th Century.
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Last Minute Preparations Underway for Rallies to Save America’s Postal Service
[http://www.postalnewsblog.com/2011/09/25/last-minute-preparations-underway-for-rallies-to-save-america%E2%80%99s-postal-service/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+postalnewsblog+%28Postalnews+blog%29]
APWU locals are gearing up for the nationwide day of action to Save America’s Postal Service on Tuesday, Sept. 27, from 4 p.m. – 5:30 p.m., at locations across the country.
Together, the APWU and the National Association of Letter Carriers, the National Postal Mail Handlers Union and the National Rural Letter Carriers Association will rally in every congressional district in the country to tell the real story about the Postal Service’s financial crisis and to build support for legislation that would restore financial stability to the Postal Service.
At the rallies on Sept. 27, the unions will be asking legislators to co-sponsor to H.R. 1351, which was introduced by Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA). Where lawmakers have already signed on, the rallies will thank them for their support and ask them to pledge to do everything in their power to ensure its passage.
The rallies have already garnered press coverage in dozens of locations. In Sarasota, FL, for example, the Brandenton Herald reported that hundreds of local postal workers are expected to take part in the rally. Radio or newspaper interviews have also been conducted in Hattiesburg, MS; Monroe, LA; Fort Smith, AR; and Fort Myers, FL. Coverage is expected in many media markets on Tuesday.
Locals that haven’t already done so are being encouraged to notify the media about the rallies. Sample press releases [PDF] are available on the Save America’s Postal Service’s Web site, which the unions developed to provide information about the events.
To boost attendance at the rallies, locals are urged to reach out to community leaders, small business owners and other allies who rely on the Postal Service, as well as family members, friends, and neighbors.
APWU locals are also encouraged to keep the national union office informed of their participation in the rallies and to send high-resolution photos to sdavidow@apwu.org.
Sorry for such short notice (just got confirmation on this)...
But if you can-- please join us today (Thursday April 5th) at 10:30 am for a press conference/rally
with Deb Szeredy, President of Mid-Hudson American Postal Workers Union #3722, and Diana Cline,
APWU #3722 Director of Organizing and Legislative Representative-- on how ridiculous
it is that the U.S. Postal Service is still forced to pay for its employees'
pensions 75 years ahead of time; Chris Gibson refuses to save the U.S.P.S., refuses
to save our post offices, refuses to save U.S.P.S. jobs or our postal centers!...
Unlike Maurice Hinchey and Paul Tonko, Chris Gibson refuses to join 230 members of the House of
Representatives co-sponsoring the bipartisan United States Postal Service Pension Obligation Recalculation and
Restoration Act of 2011...
[see: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d112:HR01351:@@@P ]
Unlike Maurice Hinchey and Paul Tonko, Chris Gibson also refuses to join 221 members of the House
of Representatives signed on to H.Res.137-- "Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that
the United States Postal Service should take all appropriate measures to ensure the continuation of its 6-day
mail delivery service"...
[see: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d112:HE00137:@@@P ]
Unlike Maurice Hinchey, Chris Gibson also refused to sign on to the bipartisan Mar. 27th letter to
Speaker John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi "to maintain robust mail service, including 6 day delivery and rural post offices, and develop a transformational 21ST Century business model for the USPS"...see:
http://www.savethepostoffice.com/connolly-and-young-call-congress-develop-21st-century-usps-business-model;
http://www.savethepostoffice.com/sites/default/files/Reps%20Connolly%20Young%20et%20al%20letter%20to%20House%20Leadership%20March%2027%202012.pdf...
[our campaign for Congress has also been endorsed by Troy Area Labor Council President Mike Keenan,
Pete Seeger, Josh Fox, Cornel West, Medea Benjamin, Dutchess County Democratic
Elections Commissioner Fran Knapp, and 260 more @ http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel .]
Recall blog post from yours truly on all this last Sept. 26th (big HVALF rally in solidarity with postal workers):
http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2011/09/rally-to-save-our-post-officepostal.html .
No wonder this gem below from Jim Hightower originally posted Mar. 28th is still
the most popular article at CommonDreams.org:
"The Truth About the U.S. Postal Service"
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/03/28
Hope to see you all there today!...
Joel
845-444-0599/876-2488
joeltyner@earthlink.net
JoelforCongress.org
www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel
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From http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/03/28 ...
Published on Wednesday, March 28, 2012 by Creators.com
The Truth About the US Postal Service
by Jim Hightower
What does 50 cents buy these days? Not a cuppa joe, a pack of gum or a newspaper. But you can get a steal of deal for a 50-cent piece: a first-class stamp. Plus a nickel in change.
Each day, six days a week, letter carriers traverse 4 million miles toting an average of 563 million pieces of mail, reaching the very doorsteps of our individual homes and workplaces in every single community in America. From the gated enclaves and penthouses of the uber-wealthy to the inner-city ghettos and rural colonias of America's poorest families, the U.S. Postal Service literally delivers. All for 45 cents. The USPS is an unmatched bargain, a civic treasure, a genuine public good that links all people and communities into one nation.
So, naturally, it must be destroyed.
For the past several months, the laissez-fairyland blogosphere, assorted corporate front groups, a howling pack of congressional right-wingers and a bunch of lazy mass media sources have been pounding out a steadily rising drumbeat to warn that our postal service faces impending doom. It's "broke," they exclaim; USPS "nears collapse"; it's "a full-blown financial crisis!"
These gloomsayers claim the national mail agency is bogged down with too many overpaid workers and costly brick-and-mortar facilities, so it can't keep up with the instant messaging of Internet services and such nimble corporate competitors as FedEx. Thus, say these contrivers of their own conventional wisdom, the Postal Service is unprofitable and is costing taxpayers billions of dollars a year in losses. Wrong.
Since 1971, the postal service has not taken a dime from taxpayers. All of its operations — including the remarkable convenience of 32,000 local post offices — are paid for by peddling stamps and other products.
The privatizers squawk that USPS has gone some $13 billion in the hole during the past four years — a private corporation would go broke with that record! (Actually, private corporations tend to go to Washington rather than go broke, getting taxpayer bailouts to cover their losses.) The Postal Service is NOT broke. Indeed, in those four years of loudly deplored "losses," the service actually produced a $700 million operational profit (despite the worst economy since the Great Depression).
What's going on here? Right-wing sabotage of USPS financing, that's what.
In 2006, the Bush White House and Congress whacked the post office with the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act — an incredible piece of ugliness requiring the agency to PRE-PAY the health care benefits not only of current employees, but also of all employees who'll retire during the next 75 years. Yes, that includes employees who're not yet born!
No other agency and no corporation has to do this. Worse, this ridiculous law demands that USPS fully fund this seven-decade burden by 2016. Imagine the shrieks of outrage if Congress tried to slap FedEx or other private firms with such an onerous requirement.
This politically motivated mandate is costing the Postal Service $5.5 billion a year — money taken right out of postage revenue that could be going to services. That's the real source of the "financial crisis" squeezing America's post offices.
In addition, due to a 40-year-old accounting error, the federal Office of Personnel Management has overcharged the post office by as much as $80 billion for payments into the Civil Service Retirement System. This means that USPS has had billions of its sales dollars erroneously diverted into the treasury. Restore the agency's access to its own postage money, and the impending "collapse" goes away.
The post office is more than a bunch of buildings — it's a community center and, for many towns, an essential part of the local identity, as well as a tangible link to the rest of the nation. As former Sen. Jennings Randolph poignantly observed, "When the local post office is closed, the flag comes down." The corporatizer crowd doesn't grasp that going after this particular government program is messing with the human connection and genuine affection that it engenders.
America's postal service is a true public service, a grassroots people's asset that has even more potential than we're presently tapping to serve the democratic ideal of the common good. Why the hell would we let an elite of small-minded profiteers, ranting ideologues and their political hirelings drop-kick this jewel through the goal posts of corporate greed? This is not a fight merely to save 32,000 post offices and the middle-class jobs they provide — but to advance the BIG IDEA of America itself, the bold, historic notion that "yes, we can" create a society in which we're all in it together.
© 2012 Creators Syndicate
National radio commentator, writer, public speaker, and author of the book, Swim Against The Current: Even A Dead Fish Can Go With The Flow, Jim Hightower has spent three decades battling the Powers That Be on behalf of the Powers That Ought To Be - consumers, working families, environmentalists, small businesses, and just-plain-folks.
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From http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2011/09/rally-to-save-our-post-officepostal.html ...
[blog post here from yours truly last Sept. 26th]
Rally to save our post office/postal service from Gibson/Hayworth/GOP!...
Come out if you can to join us tomorrow (Tues. Sept. 27th) 4-6 pm for the Hudson Valley Area Labor Federation's Save America's Postal Service Rally-- in Newburgh at 17K/Route & 300 at corner w/TGIF!....
[see SavethePostOffice.com-- there will literally be hundreds of rallies like this all across the U.S. tomorrow on this-- organized by American Postal Workers Union, National Association of Letter Carriers, National Postal Mail Handlers Union, National Rural Letter Carriers' Association, MoveOn, RebuildtheDream.com, many more]
Fact: "If the Postal Service were a private company, it would not have to file for bankruptcy because it would not be subject to a USPS-specific congressional mandate to pre-fund future retiree health benefits. As it is, it is the only federal agency required to do so: It must pre-fund these benefits some 75 years into the future on a massively accelerated schedule. This postal-only mandate, which costs the USPS $5.5 billion per year, accounts for 100 percent of the Postal Service’s $20 billion in losses over the past four years. It also accounts for 100 percent of the rise in the Postal Service’s debt in recent years. Without the mandate, the USPS would have been profitable over the past four years and it would have significant borrowing authority to ride out the bad economy. It would not have had to file for bankruptcy."
[from "The Big Lie About 'Postal Bankruptcy'":
http://postalemployeenetwork.com/news/2011/08/the-big-lie-about-postal-bankruptcy/]
Recall-- "The U.S. Postal Service is considering cutting as many as 120,000 jobs...The post office has cut 110,000 jobs over the last four years and is currently engaged in eliminating 7,500 administrative staff...In addition the post office recently said it is considering closing 3,653 post offices, stations and other facilities...]
[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/11/us-postal-service-jobs-benefits-layoffs_n_924927.html]
Sign the petition here: http://www.saveamericaspostalservice.org/petition.html .
Call Congress-- (866) 338-1015!...
[pass it on]
Joel
845-444-0599
joeltyner@earthlink.net
JoelforCongress.org
DutchessDemocracy.blogspot.com
PetitionOnline.com/Joel (200+ on board!)
p.s. Dutchess County residents-- see just a bit below-- letter I just sent to my 24 colleagues in our County Legislature here looking for solidarity/action on this-- feel free to follow up with your own to them on this-- email countylegislators@co.dutchess.ny.us (fwd!)...
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From: "Brian Pugh, HVALF"
Subject: Tuesday: Save 120,000 Jobs
Date: Sep 26, 2011 12:00 PM
Phone: (845) 567-7760 Fax: (845) 567-7742
Email: esoto@hvalf.org Website: www.hvalf.org
Postal workers in NY and across the nation are under attack and desperately need our help.
Join us this Tuesday, Sept. 27, for a national day of action to protect the United States Postal Service (USPS) and save 120,000 jobs.
Rallies are happening in all 50 states—most take place from 4–5:30 p.m. local time.
Save America’s Postal Service Rally
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Time: 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Location: 17K/Route & 300
Corner w/TGIF Newburgh, NY
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From: Joel Tyner
To: countylegislators@co.dutchess.ny.us
Subject: Colleagues-- let's pull together to send strong message-- save the U.S. Postal Service!...
Date: Sep 26, 2011 10:19 AM
Hi all...
As no doubt many of you are aware, unfortunately the U.S. Postal Service has come under pressure lately to cut as many as 120,000 jobs, even though the post office has cut 110,000 jobs over the last four years and is currently engaged in eliminating 7,500 administrative staff. In addition, the post office recently said it is also considering closing 3,653 post offices, stations and other facilities-- not good for our communities-- and not good for our economy.
It doesn't have to be this way.
As the American Postal Workers Union, National Association of Letter Carriers, National Postal Mail Handlers Union, National Rural Letter Carriers' Association, MoveOn, RootsAction.org, RebuildtheDream.com, The Nation's Allison Kilkenny, and many others have pointed out there are alternatives-- see SavethePostOffice.com, SaveAmericasPostalService.org, and these three facts below:
Fact: "If the Postal Service were a private company, it would not have to file for bankruptcy because it would not be subject to a USPS-specific congressional mandate to pre-fund future retiree health benefits."
Fact: "As it is, it is the only federal agency required to do so: It must pre-fund these benefits some 75 years into the future on a massively accelerated schedule. This postal-only mandate, which costs the USPS $5.5 billion per year, accounts for 100 percent of the Postal Service’s $20 billion in losses over the past four years."
Fact: "This also accounts for 100 percent of the rise in the Postal Service’s debt in recent years. Without the mandate, the USPS would have been profitable over the past four years and it would have significant borrowing authority to ride out the bad economy. It would not have had to file for bankruptcy."
[above three are from "The Big Lie About 'Postal Bankruptcy'":
http://postalemployeenetwork.com/news/2011/08/the-big-lie-about-postal-bankruptcy/]
Also see:
"Postmasters Calls on Congress to Stop Closing Post Offices and to Let USPS Pension Overpayments Prefund Retiree Health Benefits"
http://postalemployeenetwork.com/news/2011/09/postmasters-calls-on-congress-to-stop-closing-post-offices-and-to-let-usps-pension-overpayments-prefund-retiree-health-benefits/ .
So-- please let me know as soon as possible if you'd like to co-sponsor a resolution or letter to Congress and the President on this, k?
[time's runnin' out!]
Joel
444-0599
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"The Big Lie About 'Postal Bankruptcy'"
http://postalemployeenetwork.com/news/2011/08/the-big-lie-about-postal-bankruptcy/
Posted by postal on Aug 12th, 2011
Yesterday, in a mandatory stand-up talk, Postal Service management all across the country told letter carriers:
“If we were a private company, we would have already filed for bankruptcy and gone through restructuring—much like major automakers did two years ago.”
The Service repeated this claim in a press release distributed to the nation’s news media as well.
Of course, it’s not true. But the USPS seems to think that if it repeats this “Big Lie” often enough, most people—and especially members of Congress—will think it’s true.
So, let’s set the record straight: If the Postal Service were a private company, it would not have to file for bankruptcy because it would not be subject to a USPS-specific congressional mandate to pre-fund future retiree health benefits. As it is, it is the only federal agency required to do so: It must pre-fund these benefits some 75 years into the future on a massively accelerated schedule.
This postal-only mandate, which costs the USPS $5.5 billion per year, accounts for 100 percent of the Postal Service’s $20 billion in losses over the past four years. It also accounts for 100 percent of the rise in the Postal Service’s debt in recent years. Without the mandate, the USPS would have been profitable over the past four years and it would have significant borrowing authority to ride out the bad economy. It would not have had to file for bankruptcy.
In fact, no private company in America is required to pre-fund future retiree health benefits, either by law or private-sector accounting standards. The $47 billion the Postal Service has deposited into its retiree health fund over the past four years would have been available for operating costs. And those companies that voluntarily do pre-fund would never have adopted a crushing schedule to pre-fund 80 percent of future retiree health costs in just 10 years. Nor would they mindlessly stick to such an onerous schedule in the middle of the worst recession in 80 years.
Congress, aided and abetted by the Office of Personnel Management and the General Accountability Office, mandated the destructive pre-funding policy in 2006. The common-sense solution is obvious: Let the Postal Service use the massive surpluses in its pension plans, found by two independent audits, to cover the cost of pre-funding. Indeed, 181 members of the House—from both parties—have co-sponsored legislation to adopt this solution (H.R. 1351). But thanks to the dysfunctional nature of Congress, the bureaucratic blindness of OPM and the Office of Management and Budget, and the single-minded stubbornness of the Congressional Budget Office, which “scores” any change in the pre-funding provisions as increasing the deficit even though no taxpayer funds are involved, the Postal Service now faces a financial crisis in September when the next $5.5 billion payment is due.
Don’t believe the “Big Lie.” The Postal Service is not going bankrupt. Rather, Washington politics is killing it.
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From http://www.SaveAmericasPostalService.org ...
On Tuesday, September 27, from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. (local time), members of the four employee unions of the United States Postal Service—
• American Postal Workers Union
• National Association of Letter Carriers
• National Postal Mail Handlers Union
• National Rural Letter Carriers' Association
—will join forces with members of our communities to send a message to the nation and its Congress.
We are proud to announce the participation of the National Association of Postal Supervisors (NAPS) in the effort to Save America's Postal Service. Click here to read their entire statement.
During these informational rallies, we will visit the home office of each member of the House of Representatives.
We will thank those members who have signed on as co-sponsors of H.R. 1351, a bill that addresses the financial crisis facing the Postal Service.
And we will encourage those who have not signed as co-sponsors of H.R. 1351 to do so.
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http://www.rootsaction.org/featured-actions/251-save-the-post-office-from-gop-sabotage
From: "Jeff Cohen, RootsAction"
Subject: Save the Post Office from GOP Sabotage
Date: Sep 26, 2011 9:16 AM
A decent society requires a postal system that serves everyone, everywhere, at a low price.
In my youth, I was a proud postal worker. Today, hundreds of thousands of Americans are postal workers – the largest unionized workforce we have left.
The U.S. Postal Service is our most trusted government agency. It provides universal service to all Americans – rich or poor, urban or rural. It receives not a penny in taxpayer subsidy.
And it faces destruction – thanks to Republicans in Congress, acting for huge corporations through a manufactured “Shock Doctrine” crisis.
This is an attack on unionized public workers like the attacks on teachers and state workers in Wisconsin and elsewhere.
Help save the post office by forcing a vote on HR 1351, a bill cosponsored by 211 Congress members -- almost half the House of Representatives.
Click to contact Congress and to find out where there's a "Save America’s Postal Service" rally near you tomorrow (Tuesday-- see above).
The postal service would be operating in surplus if not for a bill rammed through the Republican Congress in a voice vote in December 2006, and signed by President Bush. The bill required $5 billion annual PRE-payments toward retiree health benefits for 75 years into the future – “something no other government or private corporation is required to do,” asserts Ralph Nader.
HR 1351, drafted by Democratic Rep. Stephen Lynch, would end this sabotage and save the post office -- without a single penny of taxpayer funding.
Tell your Representative to sign a discharge petition to force HR 1351 to the floor of the full House despite the obstruction of GOP Committee Chair Darrell Issa.
And please forward this email to your friends.
A decent society requires a postal system that serves everyone, everywhere, at a low price.
If corporate forces take over, imagine no more mail delivery or pick up one day.
Imagine all hardcopy communications, including with your elected representatives, subject to the tender mercies of corporate delivery. (Emails to Congress are already handled by Lockheed Martin.)
As the great Joni Mitchell told us: “You don't know what you've got till it's gone.”
Take action now.
Sincerely,
Jeff Cohen
and the RootsAction team
P.S. Our small staff is supported by contributions from people like you; your donations are greatly appreciated.
Resources:
“The Great Postal Heist” video
Statement from National Association of Letter Carriers local leader
Ralph Nader letter
Column by American Postal Workers Union local leader
Congress' Lockheed Martin Internet
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From http://pol.moveon.org/event/events/event.html?event_id=121672 ...
September Recess Action
Congressman Tonko's Office,,Albany, 61 Columbia St
Albany, NY 12210
Tuesday, September 27th, 4:00 PM
Let's keep the momentum going! Please sign up for this gathering right away!
Message from your host, Susan Weber: "Right wingnuts propose to CUT middle-class postal service jobs in the middle of an economic crisis. How will that help grow our economy? We need JOBS, not CUTS!!!
Let's help publicize this travesty with our coalition union partners. The postal service is NOT broke. Congress is requiring them to up front fund 75 years of retirement costs. WHAT?
Again, we are being lied to. The USPS is not broke. No one needs to be laid off; Saturday delivery doesn't need to end; the postal service doesn't need to be privatized. Congress needs to pass HR 1351, to repeal the requirement that USPS pre-fund 75 yrs of retirement benefits!
Or-- go to Gibson's office, 136 Glen St, Glens Falls, 4 to 5:30 pm Tuesday and join the postal workers and AFL to protest there! Questions, call Susan at 518-462-3247 or 518-656-9558."
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"Postmasters Calls on Congress to Stop Closing Post Offices and to Let USPS Pension Overpayments Prefund Retiree Health Benefits"
http://postalemployeenetwork.com/news/2011/09/postmasters-calls-on-congress-to-stop-closing-post-offices-and-to-let-usps-pension-overpayments-prefund-retiree-health-benefits/
Posted by postal on Sep 6th, 2011
National League of Postmasters Calls on Congress to Stop Closing Post Offices and to Let USPS Pension Overpayments Prefund Retiree Health Benefits
USPS Pension and Retiree Health Benefits Payments Should be Realigned;
USPS Should Not Withdraw from the Federal Retiree Health Benefit Plan.
ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA – “Enough is enough. Congress must act. The time to act is now and the action to take is to allow the Postal Service’s pension overpayments to be transferred to its retiree health benefit fund,” said LEAGUE President Mark Strong in a statement submitted today to the Senate hearing on the Postal Service crisis. “This would allow the Postal Service to stop closing rural post offices and stop devastating thousands of small rural communities,” he added.
Today’s hearing, chaired by Senator Joseph Lieberman (CT), was before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Entitled “U.S. Postal Service in Crisis: Proposals to Prevent a Postal Shutdown,” today’s hearing focused on the current conditions of the Postal Service and the fact that Congress will not let it use its pension overpayments to prefund its retiree health benefit obligations.
“Allowing the Postal Service to use those overpayments, calculated by actuaries to be as much as $75 billion, to prefund the retiree health benefit obligation would relieve the Postal Service’s current financial stress and allow it to calmly refocus on the future,” said Strong. “It would also help the economy and help prevent a double-dip recession,” added Strong. “Ideas such as withdrawing from the Federal Employee Health Plan are terrible ideas, should not be taken seriously, and simply reflect the frustration that top Postal Service management feels,” he concluded.
Because of the way the law is written, the Postal Service must make more than $8 billion per year in pension and retiree health benefit payments, despite pension overpayments of up to $75 billion. While the Postal Service has been losing billions of dollars each year since the recession started, if the overpayments were officially recognized and credited towards the retiree health benefit obligation, and current payments stopped, it would be running in the black,” said Robert Brinkmann, the LEAGUE’s Legislative Counsel. This “crisis” is a crisis that, while precipitated by the recession, has been created by Congress, and it is a crisis that only Congress can resolve.
The National League of Postmasters has been representing active and retired postmasters throughout the country since the later part of the 19th Century.
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Last Minute Preparations Underway for Rallies to Save America’s Postal Service
[http://www.postalnewsblog.com/2011/09/25/last-minute-preparations-underway-for-rallies-to-save-america%E2%80%99s-postal-service/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+postalnewsblog+%28Postalnews+blog%29]
APWU locals are gearing up for the nationwide day of action to Save America’s Postal Service on Tuesday, Sept. 27, from 4 p.m. – 5:30 p.m., at locations across the country.
Together, the APWU and the National Association of Letter Carriers, the National Postal Mail Handlers Union and the National Rural Letter Carriers Association will rally in every congressional district in the country to tell the real story about the Postal Service’s financial crisis and to build support for legislation that would restore financial stability to the Postal Service.
At the rallies on Sept. 27, the unions will be asking legislators to co-sponsor to H.R. 1351, which was introduced by Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA). Where lawmakers have already signed on, the rallies will thank them for their support and ask them to pledge to do everything in their power to ensure its passage.
The rallies have already garnered press coverage in dozens of locations. In Sarasota, FL, for example, the Brandenton Herald reported that hundreds of local postal workers are expected to take part in the rally. Radio or newspaper interviews have also been conducted in Hattiesburg, MS; Monroe, LA; Fort Smith, AR; and Fort Myers, FL. Coverage is expected in many media markets on Tuesday.
Locals that haven’t already done so are being encouraged to notify the media about the rallies. Sample press releases [PDF] are available on the Save America’s Postal Service’s Web site, which the unions developed to provide information about the events.
To boost attendance at the rallies, locals are urged to reach out to community leaders, small business owners and other allies who rely on the Postal Service, as well as family members, friends, and neighbors.
APWU locals are also encouraged to keep the national union office informed of their participation in the rallies and to send high-resolution photos to sdavidow@apwu.org.
updated info-- help divest Dutchess from Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo!...
[quite a few from http://www.OccupyPoughkeepsie.org told me at Sat. rally they'd come to this; join us!]
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Hi all...
Please let us know as soon as possible if you might be able to come out to join us tomorrow (Weds.) at 4:30 pm for our Rally to Divest Dutchess County from Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo-- in front of our County Office Building at 22 Market Street in Poughkeepsie!...
[note: thx again much to OccupyPoughkeepsie.org for inspiration to us to go fwd on this; many times last fall Occupy Poughkeepsie rallies and marches stopped in front of JPMorgan Chase on Main Street in Poughkeepsie; many from Occupy Poughkeepsie also joined me for rallies I organized last year in front of Bank of America on Market St./Poughkeepsie-- now is our chance to change policy!]
[Feb. must-read on all this-- "Watch Us Move Our Millions" by Rebecca Leisher (in Yes! magazine):
http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/9-strategies-to-end-corporate-rule/watch-us-move-our-millions ]
Scroll down just a bit to see resolution from yours truly on this-- co-sponsored by Conservative Co. Leg. Jim Doxsey-- it'll actually be on the Co. Leg. Committee Day agenda next Thurs.-- April 12th(!)...
[update: Harold Miller/ http://www.NYCommunities.org WILL come down next Thurs. to testify: Co. Leg.!]
As always, your letters to all 25 of us in the Co. Leg. matter; email countylegislators@co.dutchess.ny.us!
Check out these two brand-new ones from Alternet's Economy section on all this (scroll down below):
http://www.alternet.org/economy/154749/%22move_your_money%22_goes_nationwide_as_cities_pull_their_money
http://www.alternet.org/economy/154778/beyond_robo-signing:_3_other_ways_bank_of_america_is_screwing_americans/
[pass it on-- and thx already to LaGrange's Val Carlisle for her letter to all 25 of us on this already!]
Joel
845-444-0599/876-2488
joeltyner@earthlink.net
http://www.JoelforCongress.org
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel (260+ there!)
http://www.DutchessDemocracy.blogspot.com
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"Members of the Albany County Legislature are calling for the county to pull its money from Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase. The 25 legislators signed a proclamation urging John McPhillips, commissioner of management and budget, to close the county's $90 million account from Bank of America and to discontinue procurement cards with JPMorgan Chase. The legislators are concerned about the number of foreclosures in the county, and noted that both banks have a significant number of area homes on the delinquency list. The proclamation states that Bank of America has 465 delinquencies in the region and JP Morgan has 316 area homes in danger of foreclosure. The proclamation also says the banks have "demonstrated a lack of willingness to engage in good-faith efforts" to modify loans and help people keep their homes. The effort, headed by county legislators Norma Chapman, Doug Bullock and Timothy Nichols, is part of a statewide campaign by NY Communities for Change."
[from "Albany County Legislators Want to Close Bank of America, JPMorgan Accounts" June 10th
http://www.bizjournals.com/albany/print-edition/2011/06/10/albany-county-legislators-want-to.html ]
Note-- already here across the state the town of Ithaca and villages of Hempstead and Freeport have voted to divest from irresponsible banking institutions like Bank of America (in those three cases, it was JP Morgan Chase)-- see much more on this here-- http://www.nycommunities.org/taxonomy/term/2 ;
http://www.alternet.org/economy/150387/2_3rds_of_us_corporations_pay_zero_federal_taxes%3A_us_uncut_movement_builds_to_make_them_pay_up/ ; http://www.USUncut.org (Harold Miller's work!).
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[text here of Tyner/Doxsey resolution; more co-sponsors needed; scroll down below for documentation!]
WHEREAS, Dutchess County now has $50 million accounts each with Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo- banks widely reported as responsible for mortgage fraud and our economic collapse, and
WHEREAS, former Dutchess County Executive William Steinhaus sent our County Legislature a letter December 15th stating that, "Foreclosure rates in Dutchess County are at record numbers; there are a total of over 4,000 foreclosures in Dutchess over just the last three-year period," and currently in Dutchess County there are 414 home bankruptcy listings, 98 short sales, 61 foreclosures, 43 preforeclosures, and 11 sheriff sales at Foreclosures.com, and
WHEREAS, last June 25 members of the Albany County Legislature signed a proclamation calling for the county to pull its $90 million account from Bank of America and to discontinue procurement cards with JPMorgan Chase because at that time Bank of America had 465 delinquencies in the region and JP Morgan had 316 area homes in danger of foreclosure, and those banks had "demonstrated a lack of willingness to engage in good-faith efforts" to modify loans and help people keep their homes, as here in Dutchess County; several months later Albany County's $90 million account with Bank of America was closed, and
WHEREAS, the municipal boards of Hempstead, Freeport, and Ithaca have all voted for the same reason over the last year to divest from irresponsible financial institutions such as Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo; even the Northern Dutchess Alliance's "Blueprint for Economic Development" strongly recommended holding local financial institutions more publicly accountable for their commitment/investment (or lack thereof) in our local communities, and
WHEREAS, last year the City of San Jose moved nearly $1 billion from Bank of America because of the bank's high record of home foreclosures; City Council members linked foreclosures to lost tax revenues and cuts to jobs and services, and urged other U.S. cities to follow San Jose's example, and last November the Seattle City Council unanimously passed a resolution to review its banking and investment practices "to ensure that public funds are invested in responsible financial institutions that support our community," and
WHEREAS, officials in Portland, Oregon, Los Angeles, and New York City are looking to follow as well, and congregations in the California interfaith coalition LA Voice vowed to divest $2 million from Wells Fargo and Bank of America, ending a 200-year relationship with the big banks; the Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in East San Jose, Calif., pulled $3 million out of Bank of America and reinvested the funds into Micro Branch, a division of Self-Help Federal Credit Union designed to assist underserved communities, and therefore be it
RESOLVED, that the Dutchess County Legislature requests that the Dutchess County Commissioner of Finance divest Dutchess County funds from Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, and Wells Fargo, thereby ending the current $150,000,000 worth of county funds kept in those financial institutions, and find more responsible banks to deposit those monies, and be it further
RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be sent to the Dutchess County Executive and the Dutchess County Commissioner of Finance.
##############################################
Supporting documentation:
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Executive Order No. 2, 2011
Dated: October 17, 2011
[signed by Dutchess County Executive William Steinhaus]
Pursuant to Section 3.02 (g) of the Dutchess County Charter, I hereby designate the following banks and trust companies for the deposit of moneys received by the Commissioner of Finance at the maximum amount set forth after the name of each bank or trust company:
HSBC Bank USA, N.A. Poughkeepsie, NY................$50,000,000
JP Morgan Chase Poughkeepsie, NY........................$50,000,000
Bank of America, Poughkeepsie, NY..........................$50,000,000
Wells Fargo (formerly Wachovia Bank, N.A.)
Poughkeepsie, NY.........................................................$50,000,000
Key Bank of New York, N.A., Poughkeepsie, NY.....$20,000,000
Bank of Millbrook, Millbrook, NY...................................$5,000,000
(merged with Stissing National Bank)
Manufacturers and Traders Trust Co. (M & T)..........$20,000,000
Poughkeepsie, NY
Orange County Trust Company, Fishkill, NY.............$5,000,000
Citizens Bank, Albany, NY..........................................$20,000,000
TD Bank, Poughkeepsie, NY.....................................$50,000,000
Citibank NA, Harrison, NY.........................................$50,000,000
Pursuant to Section 11 of the General Municipal Law, the Dutchess County Commissioner of Finance is authorized to invest in time deposit accounts, certificates of deposit or repurchase agreements of the above designated depositories or repurchase agreements of the Merrill Lynch Flexicash Program.
Pursuant to Section 212 of the County Law, the interest received on moneys deposited in time deposit accounts, certificates of deposit, or repurchase agreements of the above designated depositories shall be the prevailing rate paid by such designated depository, payable on such dates as agreed upon between the depository and the Dutchess County Commissioner of Finance.
This Executive Order No. 2 of 2011 supersedes Executive Order No. 1 of 2011 issued January 2, 2011.
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Two Reasons Why Dutchess County Should Divest from Bank of America:
"Bank Excuses on Foreclosure Growing Stale" by Michael Powell (Nov. 14th)
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/15/nyregion/patience-grows-thin-for-banks-foreclosure-excuses.html
"Eric Schneiderman Is A Big Thorn In Bank of America's Side" [Forbes Aug. 16th]
http://www.forbes.com/sites/halahtouryalai/2011/08/16/eric-schneiderman-is-a-big-thorn-in-bank-of-americas-side/
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Two Reasons Why Dutchess County Should Divest from JP Morgan Chase:
"Allegations of Fraud Continue to Surround JP Morgan Chase's Foreclosure Processes" Dec. 5th
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/12/prweb9016844.htm
"Her Bank Got Enough Help When It Was in Trouble. She Didn't." by Michael Powell Sept. 12th
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/13/nyregion/jpmorgan-chase-got-us-help-but-mortgage-holders-did-not.html
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Two Reasons Why Dutchess County Should Divest from Wells Fargo:
"DoJ Civil Rights Division Investigating Wells Fargo for Mortgage Fraud" by David Dayen July 27, 2011
http://news.firedoglake.com/2011/07/27/doj-civil-rights-division-investigating-wells-fargo-for-mortgage-fraud/
"Wells Fargo Settles Mortgage Abuse Lawsuit For $85 Million" by Chris Rugaber/Derek Kravitz July 20
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/20/wells-fargo-settlement-mortgage-abuse_n_905054.html
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From http://www.TruthOut.org / By Yana Kuchinoff
"Move Your Money" Goes Nationwide As Cities Pull Their Money
Cities, churches, and many other groups are re-thinking their banking priorities
March 29, 2012 |
It's getting expensive these days to be a bad citizen in America, if you're a major bank. A growing number of cities around the country have passed, introduced or drafted responsible banking ordinances that hit big financial institutions where it hurts most - the pocketbook.
Los Angeles drafted a responsible banking ordinance in March that assesses banks that do business with the city based on foreclosure data; in February, Kansas City, Missouri,passed a resolution ordering the city manager to only do business with banks that don't engage in predatory lending; and in November, New York City introduced legislation that would force banks that want to hold city deposits to submit community reinvestment plans.
And just days ago, in Massachusetts, the city of Brockton was persuaded to move its money out of Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase altogether after they refused to negotiations on loan modifications for homeowners facing foreclosure.
The movement to divest from banking institutions continues to gain ground, as cities with large amount of capital join individuals, unions and congregations in pulling their money out of banks, or looking more carefully at the conditions a financial institution must meet to hold their money.
"I think it's because there are millions of people who for various reasons are angry at the way banks have taken control of the economy and our democracy," said Ilana Berger, co-director of The New Bottom Line, a coalition group "working together to build a movement that challenges established big bank interests on behalf of struggling and middle-class communities."
"People living under mountains of debt because of unfair fee and predatory practices for a long time felt like we need another solution," continued Berger, while "banks are not acting in the way that is in the best interests of our community and our economy."
"Over the past few months people have started to see a movement that addresses this," she said.
Legislation is also being considered in "Austin, Boston, the Bay Area (San Francisco/Oakland, CA), Chicago, Minneapolis, San Jose, CA, and Portland, OR.," according to The New Bottom Line.
Bank of America, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase have all come under fire since they were bailed out by the federal government in 2008 for actions that community groups say may have helped their stockholders, but often left people facing unfair foreclosure. These included predatory lending, robo-signing of foreclosure documents and risky investments.
While divestment from big banks began as a progressive issue, with the Occupy movement taking on the rallying cry as well as groups like Move Our Money, Berger says that "if you are in a city with a very high foreclosure rate, you don't have to be progressive to see that it's costing the city money."
It's become a "common sense issue," said Berger.
While the sheer financial power of cities makes them a huge player in the divestment movement, other groups that could have an impact have also jumped on board.
These include churches and union groups, both of which have economic muscle and a connection to the community, said Tim Lilienthal, lead organizer for bank accountability with the Pico National Network.
"If you go into any corner of the country and go into any congregation, there are lots of things that they are dealing with, hearing the same stories that people have been experiencing this for years and years," said Lilienthal.
The Pico group estimates that 25 different congregations in their network have together moved $30 million from big banks. Most recently, a San Jose priest made headlines when he diverted $3 million from Bank of America to a local credit union.
The primary demand coming from the groups that Berger and Lilienthal work with is for banks to agree to large-scale principal reduction, a move that they say could help thousands of homeowners.
Principal reduction would reduce the amount of money that underwater homeowners, who owe more money than their houses are worth, are paying on their mortgages and, thereby, stem the tide of foreclosures.
ProPublica has called the issue "one of the most politically charged debates about the housing crisis," and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which oversees the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, has been vehemently against the proposal.
According to a report by The New Bottom Line, principal reductions by big banks would create one millions jobs annually, save taxpayers money and would let the average family pay $500 per month less on their mortgage.
Until this aim is achieved, Lilienthal said he sees the divestment movement continuing to grow.
"What we are aspiring to is not just think about where we are moving our money out of," he said, "but also think of our money as being kind of an organized force."
This article is a Truthout original.
Yana Kuchinoff is an assistant editor at Truthout.
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From http://www.AlterNet.org / By Lauren Kelley
Beyond Robo-Signing: 3 Other Ways Bank of America Is Screwing Americans
As outraged as Americans are about robo-signing (and they should be), the use of foreclosure mills doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of Bank of America's dastardly deeds.
March 30, 2012 |
Few institutions incite the kind of populist anger that Bank of America does, even as the Occupy movement stokes rage at Wall Street in general. And with good reason - in an industry that is known for being corrupt, immoral, and ungrateful leeches of taxpayer dollars, Bank of America stands out. The bank, it seems, is constantly making headlines for some new form of corruption or act of greed that screws consumers while padding its executives' pockets. And it gets away with it every time.
The bank was at the forefront of the dubious practice known as "robo-signing" - hiring third-party companies staffed by underqualified foreclosure "experts" to cut corners during the foreclosure process, processing thousands upon thousands of foreclosures a month and wreaking havoc on homeowners' lives.
But as outraged as Americans are about robo-signing (and they should be, especially since the big banks continued to use the practice long after they agreed to stop), the use of foreclosure mills doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of Bank of America's dastardly deeds. As Matt Taibbi writes in his devastating piece about Bank of America in this month's Rolling Stone:
[H]ere's how seriously fucked the financial markets are: Even the most vocal critics of Bank of America consider the mass, factory-style production of tens of thousands of fake legal documents per month not that big a deal. "Robo-signing is like focusing on Bernie Madoff's accountant," quips April Charney, a well-known foreclosure lawyer who has spent large chunks of the past two decades in battle with Bank of America.
Robo-signing is not the disease - it's a symptom of Bank of America's entire attitude toward the law.
Indeed, the bank is screwing Americans is so many ways that robo-signing, awful as it is, is but a drop in the bucket. Below are several examples (among many) of how Bank of America is hurting consumers while continuing to dole out plenty of dough in executive bonuses and compensation.
1. Siccing collections agencies on people who are not in debt
Thanks to Bank of America, we now know that there's something more maddening and nightmarish than being hounded by debt collectors: being hounded by debt collectors when you don't owe anything.
A la their infamous illegal foreclosure problem, big banks are in the practice hiring third-party companies to handle debt collection for them. That would be all fine and well if the banks took care to pass on accurate documentation about their customers. But they don't. American Banker reports this week on a woman named Karen Stevens, who's spent the past three years fighting off a collection agency that Bank of America hired to collect $1,900 in debt - debt that Stevens has long since paid off. Stevens was only able to put an end to the fiasco by hiring a lawyer and suing the collection agency.
Stevens' case appears to be an example of what happens when banks sell batches of accounts without sufficiently scrubbing them of errors and discrepancies ( see related story). Such oversights are drawing into collections quagmires an unknown number of consumers who owe nothing, or for whom debt records are incomplete or nonexistent. For banks, it's a problem that threatens to spark a legal or regulatory backlash or to do further damage to already tarnished reputations.
Aside from getting this work (messily) off their plates, the advantage for Bank of America in doing business this way is that they don't have to deal with their clients' lawsuits when they get screwed over. Blame it on the third-party guy!
2. Sneakily ratcheting up fees on the 99%
As I wrote earlier this month , Bank of America is one of the mega banks that's quietly ratcheting up fees, especially for its lower-income customers, to compensate for new regulations that were designed to protect those very individuals.
This is an especially ballsy move for Bank of America, since it was BofA's proposed $5 monthly debit card fee that incited so much consumer outrage last fall. And yet, mere months later, the bank has announced a fee "overhaul" that will result in customers paying up to $25 per month for a basic checking account.
Maddeningly, the bank is most focused on increasing fees for low-income consumers - Americans who may have trouble maintaining a minimum account balance or who do not have multiple bank services, such as a mortgage. In addition, these customers may soon have less banking opportunities in general, as Bank of America, among other big banks, plans to shift its resources to cater more to "up markets" that make the bank more money than less-wealthy communities.
3. Exploiting the unemployed to rake in fees
When South Carolina signed a deal with Bank of America to distribute unemployment benefits via prepaid debit cards, chances are the state was not actively trying to screw its unemployed citizens. But that is exactly what happened, because Bank of America took advantage of its contract with the state to exploit unemployed South Carolinians by charging many of them hefty fees to access their benefits.
Huffington Post's Janell Ross reported late last year that citizens who live in towns without Bank of America branches - and there are many such individuals in South Carolina - are forced to either drive to another town to access their benefits (something many cannot afford to do) or pay a fee for withdrawing money from a non-BofA ATM. One woman profiled in Ross' article, Shawna Busby, had to choose between making a 100-mile round trip drive to Columbia to access her benefits or pay up. Busby estimated that she had paid $350 in fees to withdraw the benefits that she was legally owed - money she desperately needs for her family since she is, of course, unemployed.
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Of course, these are only a few of the ways Bank of America is screwing over the citizens whose taxpayers kept the bank afloat during the financial crisis the bank helped create. And it is only small consolation that BofA claims to be suffering financially these days, because, as Taibbi notes, the bank seems to have plenty of money to go around for bonuses and compensation:
Bank of America didn't pay a dime in federal taxes last year. Or the year before. In fact, they got a $1 billion refund last year. They claimed it was because they had pretax losses of $5.4 billion in 2010. They paid out $35 billion in bonuses and compensation that year. You do the math.
As for the $26 billion settlement that Bank of America and other big banks got slapped with? It let the banks off the hook for its robo-signing misadventures, and may not even be properly enforced by the government. Even if it is, it will be "woefully inadequate to address the wider fraud that went on in creating and pooling mortgages."
On that note, I leave you with three simple words: Move. Your. Money.
Lauren Kelley is an associate editor at AlterNet and a freelance writer and editor who has contributed to Change.org, The L Magazine and Time Out New York. She lives in Brooklyn. Follow her on Twitter here.
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http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/9-strategies-to-end-corporate-rule/watch-us-move-our-millions
Watch Us Move Our Millions
Cities, churches, and colleges take steps to move their money home.
by Rebecca Leisher
posted Feb 01, 2012
Since the big corporate banks crashed the economy in 2008, they've been rewarded with bailouts, tax breaks, and bonuses, while American workers lose jobs and homes. Little wonder that many Americans-and now, institutions and local governments-have been closing their accounts at big corporate banks and transferring their money to community banks and credit unions. The idea is to send a strong message about responsibility to government and Wall Street, while supporting institutions that genuinely stimulate local economies.
Bank Transfer Day was publicized over five weeks, largely through social networks. In that period, credit unions received an estimated $4.5 billion in new deposits transferred from banks, according to the Credit Union National Association.
Encouraged by the popularity of the "Move Your Money" campaign, citizens are calling for institutions to be accountable and "Move Our Money." A number of schools, churches, and local governments across the country are transferring large sums, or at least considering it, in what looks like the beginning of a broad movement to invest in local economies instead of Wall Street.
Last year the city of San Jose moved nearly $1 billion from Bank of America because of the bank's high record of home foreclosures. City Council members linked foreclosures to lost tax revenues and cuts to jobs and services, and urged other U.S. cities to follow San Jose's example. More recently, in November 2011, the Seattle City Council responded to the Occupy movement by unanimously passing a resolution to review its banking and investment practices "to ensure that public funds are invested in responsible financial institutions that support our community." Officials in Portland, Ore., Los Angeles, and New York City are discussing proposals that address how and where city funds are invested.
Massachusetts launched the Small Business Banking Partnership initiative last year to leverage small business loans and has already deposited $106 million in state reserve funds into community banks.
Student activists and the Responsible Endowments Coalition are urging colleges and universities-some of which have assets comparable to those of a town or city-to move at least a portion of their endowments from Wall Street. The Peralta Community Colleges District in California, with an annual budget of $140 million, has done just that. The district's board of trustees voted unanimously in November to move its assets into community banks and credit unions.
A Separation of Church and Bank
Video: After Bank of America foreclosed on thousands of homes
in their San Jose parish, the members of this Catholic
church bid it goodbye-
and took $3 million with them.
Churches and faith organizations are moving their money too. Congregations in the California interfaith coalition LA Voice vowed to divest $2 million from Wells Fargo and Bank of America, ending a 200-year relationship with the big banks. The Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in East San Jose, Calif., pulled $3 million out of Bank of America and reinvested the funds into Micro Branch, a division of Self-Help Federal Credit Union designed to assist underserved communities.
Moving money is most effective where banking practices and investments are transparent. Oregon Banks Local represents small business, family farms, and community banks. It offers a website tool that ranks local banks and credit unions on criteria like headquarters location, jobs created, and extent of local investment to show which financial institutions truly serve local communities.
"People from all walks of life are angry at the banks," says Ilana Berger, co-director of The New Bottom Line, a national campaign that promotes moving money from Wall Street. But the broad appeal of this grassroots movement toward financial reform is based on more than anger or strategy. "It's a way to move our money to follow our values," says Berger. "It's an opportunity to really protest against the banks, but also a way to show what we want them to be."
Rebecca Leisher wrote this article for 9 Strategies to End Corporate Rule, the Spring 2012 issue of YES! Magazine. Rebecca is a freelance writer and former YES! intern.
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http://www.yesmagazine.org/new-economy/a-separation-of-church-and-bank
Big News on Bank Transfers
The Occupy effect? In the last 3 months, Americans switched banks at three times the normal rate.
by Brooke Jarvis
posted Feb 03, 2012
Two summers ago, at the U.S. Social Forum, I attended a panel discussion about ways to expand the use of credit unions as alternatives to the "too big to fail" banks whose risky investments had helped tank the economy. Each of the speakers-people involved in credit union leadership or advocacy-expressed confusion and frustration that they hadn't already seen a post-crisis shift away from corporate banks and toward credit unions (which have the advantages of being not-for-profit, owned and governed by their depositors, far more likely than big banks to lend to small businesses, and not responsible for any global economic meltdowns).
It seemed that even as Americans were angry with Big Finance, they didn't make the connection to their personal accounts.
In the last 90 days, Americans changed banking providers at three times the normal rate, with 5.6 million people moving their money to a different bank.
Fast forward to last fall-when Occupy Wall Street was in full swing and activists were mobilizing around Bank Transfer Day, an effort to get customers to leave their Wall Street banks-and it seemed everybody was making the connection. Suddenly I was overhearing conversations on the ferry, on the bus, on the soccer field. People kept saying, "I really should have done this a long time ago, but I'm switching from Bank of America [or Chase, or Wells Fargo]. What bank do you use?" Local credit unions and community banks started staying open for extra hours to accommodate the rush of new customers. One morning in November, at my own credit union, I overheard a man explaining to the teller that he was considering becoming a member-but first he wanted to know if his money would be invested in mortgage-backed securities or credit default swaps.
This change, it turns out, was much more than anecdotal. A new analysis from the firm Javelin Strategy and Research found that, in the last 90 days, Americans changed banking providers at three times the normal rate, with 5.6 million people moving their money to a different bank.
Bank Transfer Day wasn't the first major effort to get people to ditch Wall Street banks, but it was the first to have this level of impact. Arianna Huffington spearheaded a 2010 mobilization, the Move Your Money Project, to move customers to community banks ("Our money has been used to make the system worse-what if we used it to make the system better?" she wrote). While the project gained a fair amount of interest, Javelin reports that the actual bank defections it prompted failed to register on its surveys.
So why was 2011's exodus so much bigger? Eleven percent of those who moved their money-some 610,000 people-reported that they did so directly because of Occupy Wall Street and Bank Transfer Day. The Occupy movement helped bring corporate power to the forefront of national discourse; Bank Transfer Day offered a clear, practical way for people to send a message-a chance to turn the mundane question of bank choice into a stance about their personal economic values.
Move Your Money and Save
Big banks don't just undermine local economies-they're bad for your wallet, too.
Then, just as the Occupy movement-and the media scrutiny it prompted-got more Americans thinking critically about the role of big banks in their lives, Bank of America announced a new monthly fee on debit card use. BofA became an instant poster child for out-of-control corporate greed, with hundreds of thousands of people signing petitions against the fee or pledging to close their accounts. President Obama condemned it; a Fox Business anchor cut up her card on the air. Eventually, Bank of America pulled the idea, but not before helping to confirm, for millions of Americans, the Occupy movement's charges that Wall Street banks operate by putting profits before public good-as they did with the practices that caused the financial crisis.
"It's just a $5 fee, but it really is symbolic of so much more," Norma Garcia, of the advocacy group Consumers Union, told the Washington Post. In the end, it helped launch Bank Transfer Day to new heights: 26 percent of those who changed banks cited excessive fees at their current institution.
They were surprised they hadn't already seen a post-crisis shift away from corporate banks and toward credit unions (which have the advantages of being not-for-profit, owned and governed by their depositors, far more likely than big banks to lend to small businesses, and not responsible for any global economic meltdowns).
Fees, of course, are just one of many reasons to switch to a credit union (though there's an interesting history-very much related to the deeper problems of corporate banks-that explains why credit unions and community banks tend to have lower fees). Still, the Bank of America backlash was a significant reminder, to the finance industry as well as to consumers, that giant banks aren't the only option-and that there are a variety of advantages to being mindful about what we support with our investments.
Indeed, the bank transfer push doesn't seem to be losing momentum, as large institutional accounts-including cities, universities, and churches-continue to join the bandwagon. San Jose, Calif. moved $1 billion from Bank of America; just this week, Berkeley announced a desire to move its reserves from Wells Fargo to local credit unions; and proposals are under consideration in Portland, Los Angeles, and New York City.
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Hi all...
Please let us know as soon as possible if you might be able to come out to join us tomorrow (Weds.) at 4:30 pm for our Rally to Divest Dutchess County from Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo-- in front of our County Office Building at 22 Market Street in Poughkeepsie!...
[note: thx again much to OccupyPoughkeepsie.org for inspiration to us to go fwd on this; many times last fall Occupy Poughkeepsie rallies and marches stopped in front of JPMorgan Chase on Main Street in Poughkeepsie; many from Occupy Poughkeepsie also joined me for rallies I organized last year in front of Bank of America on Market St./Poughkeepsie-- now is our chance to change policy!]
[Feb. must-read on all this-- "Watch Us Move Our Millions" by Rebecca Leisher (in Yes! magazine):
http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/9-strategies-to-end-corporate-rule/watch-us-move-our-millions ]
Scroll down just a bit to see resolution from yours truly on this-- co-sponsored by Conservative Co. Leg. Jim Doxsey-- it'll actually be on the Co. Leg. Committee Day agenda next Thurs.-- April 12th(!)...
[update: Harold Miller/ http://www.NYCommunities.org WILL come down next Thurs. to testify: Co. Leg.!]
As always, your letters to all 25 of us in the Co. Leg. matter; email countylegislators@co.dutchess.ny.us!
Check out these two brand-new ones from Alternet's Economy section on all this (scroll down below):
http://www.alternet.org/economy/154749/%22move_your_money%22_goes_nationwide_as_cities_pull_their_money
http://www.alternet.org/economy/154778/beyond_robo-signing:_3_other_ways_bank_of_america_is_screwing_americans/
[pass it on-- and thx already to LaGrange's Val Carlisle for her letter to all 25 of us on this already!]
Joel
845-444-0599/876-2488
joeltyner@earthlink.net
http://www.JoelforCongress.org
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel (260+ there!)
http://www.DutchessDemocracy.blogspot.com
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"Members of the Albany County Legislature are calling for the county to pull its money from Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase. The 25 legislators signed a proclamation urging John McPhillips, commissioner of management and budget, to close the county's $90 million account from Bank of America and to discontinue procurement cards with JPMorgan Chase. The legislators are concerned about the number of foreclosures in the county, and noted that both banks have a significant number of area homes on the delinquency list. The proclamation states that Bank of America has 465 delinquencies in the region and JP Morgan has 316 area homes in danger of foreclosure. The proclamation also says the banks have "demonstrated a lack of willingness to engage in good-faith efforts" to modify loans and help people keep their homes. The effort, headed by county legislators Norma Chapman, Doug Bullock and Timothy Nichols, is part of a statewide campaign by NY Communities for Change."
[from "Albany County Legislators Want to Close Bank of America, JPMorgan Accounts" June 10th
http://www.bizjournals.com/albany/print-edition/2011/06/10/albany-county-legislators-want-to.html ]
Note-- already here across the state the town of Ithaca and villages of Hempstead and Freeport have voted to divest from irresponsible banking institutions like Bank of America (in those three cases, it was JP Morgan Chase)-- see much more on this here-- http://www.nycommunities.org/taxonomy/term/2 ;
http://www.alternet.org/economy/150387/2_3rds_of_us_corporations_pay_zero_federal_taxes%3A_us_uncut_movement_builds_to_make_them_pay_up/ ; http://www.USUncut.org (Harold Miller's work!).
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[text here of Tyner/Doxsey resolution; more co-sponsors needed; scroll down below for documentation!]
WHEREAS, Dutchess County now has $50 million accounts each with Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo- banks widely reported as responsible for mortgage fraud and our economic collapse, and
WHEREAS, former Dutchess County Executive William Steinhaus sent our County Legislature a letter December 15th stating that, "Foreclosure rates in Dutchess County are at record numbers; there are a total of over 4,000 foreclosures in Dutchess over just the last three-year period," and currently in Dutchess County there are 414 home bankruptcy listings, 98 short sales, 61 foreclosures, 43 preforeclosures, and 11 sheriff sales at Foreclosures.com, and
WHEREAS, last June 25 members of the Albany County Legislature signed a proclamation calling for the county to pull its $90 million account from Bank of America and to discontinue procurement cards with JPMorgan Chase because at that time Bank of America had 465 delinquencies in the region and JP Morgan had 316 area homes in danger of foreclosure, and those banks had "demonstrated a lack of willingness to engage in good-faith efforts" to modify loans and help people keep their homes, as here in Dutchess County; several months later Albany County's $90 million account with Bank of America was closed, and
WHEREAS, the municipal boards of Hempstead, Freeport, and Ithaca have all voted for the same reason over the last year to divest from irresponsible financial institutions such as Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo; even the Northern Dutchess Alliance's "Blueprint for Economic Development" strongly recommended holding local financial institutions more publicly accountable for their commitment/investment (or lack thereof) in our local communities, and
WHEREAS, last year the City of San Jose moved nearly $1 billion from Bank of America because of the bank's high record of home foreclosures; City Council members linked foreclosures to lost tax revenues and cuts to jobs and services, and urged other U.S. cities to follow San Jose's example, and last November the Seattle City Council unanimously passed a resolution to review its banking and investment practices "to ensure that public funds are invested in responsible financial institutions that support our community," and
WHEREAS, officials in Portland, Oregon, Los Angeles, and New York City are looking to follow as well, and congregations in the California interfaith coalition LA Voice vowed to divest $2 million from Wells Fargo and Bank of America, ending a 200-year relationship with the big banks; the Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in East San Jose, Calif., pulled $3 million out of Bank of America and reinvested the funds into Micro Branch, a division of Self-Help Federal Credit Union designed to assist underserved communities, and therefore be it
RESOLVED, that the Dutchess County Legislature requests that the Dutchess County Commissioner of Finance divest Dutchess County funds from Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, and Wells Fargo, thereby ending the current $150,000,000 worth of county funds kept in those financial institutions, and find more responsible banks to deposit those monies, and be it further
RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be sent to the Dutchess County Executive and the Dutchess County Commissioner of Finance.
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Supporting documentation:
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Executive Order No. 2, 2011
Dated: October 17, 2011
[signed by Dutchess County Executive William Steinhaus]
Pursuant to Section 3.02 (g) of the Dutchess County Charter, I hereby designate the following banks and trust companies for the deposit of moneys received by the Commissioner of Finance at the maximum amount set forth after the name of each bank or trust company:
HSBC Bank USA, N.A. Poughkeepsie, NY................$50,000,000
JP Morgan Chase Poughkeepsie, NY........................$50,000,000
Bank of America, Poughkeepsie, NY..........................$50,000,000
Wells Fargo (formerly Wachovia Bank, N.A.)
Poughkeepsie, NY.........................................................$50,000,000
Key Bank of New York, N.A., Poughkeepsie, NY.....$20,000,000
Bank of Millbrook, Millbrook, NY...................................$5,000,000
(merged with Stissing National Bank)
Manufacturers and Traders Trust Co. (M & T)..........$20,000,000
Poughkeepsie, NY
Orange County Trust Company, Fishkill, NY.............$5,000,000
Citizens Bank, Albany, NY..........................................$20,000,000
TD Bank, Poughkeepsie, NY.....................................$50,000,000
Citibank NA, Harrison, NY.........................................$50,000,000
Pursuant to Section 11 of the General Municipal Law, the Dutchess County Commissioner of Finance is authorized to invest in time deposit accounts, certificates of deposit or repurchase agreements of the above designated depositories or repurchase agreements of the Merrill Lynch Flexicash Program.
Pursuant to Section 212 of the County Law, the interest received on moneys deposited in time deposit accounts, certificates of deposit, or repurchase agreements of the above designated depositories shall be the prevailing rate paid by such designated depository, payable on such dates as agreed upon between the depository and the Dutchess County Commissioner of Finance.
This Executive Order No. 2 of 2011 supersedes Executive Order No. 1 of 2011 issued January 2, 2011.
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Two Reasons Why Dutchess County Should Divest from Bank of America:
"Bank Excuses on Foreclosure Growing Stale" by Michael Powell (Nov. 14th)
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/15/nyregion/patience-grows-thin-for-banks-foreclosure-excuses.html
"Eric Schneiderman Is A Big Thorn In Bank of America's Side" [Forbes Aug. 16th]
http://www.forbes.com/sites/halahtouryalai/2011/08/16/eric-schneiderman-is-a-big-thorn-in-bank-of-americas-side/
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Two Reasons Why Dutchess County Should Divest from JP Morgan Chase:
"Allegations of Fraud Continue to Surround JP Morgan Chase's Foreclosure Processes" Dec. 5th
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/12/prweb9016844.htm
"Her Bank Got Enough Help When It Was in Trouble. She Didn't." by Michael Powell Sept. 12th
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/13/nyregion/jpmorgan-chase-got-us-help-but-mortgage-holders-did-not.html
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Two Reasons Why Dutchess County Should Divest from Wells Fargo:
"DoJ Civil Rights Division Investigating Wells Fargo for Mortgage Fraud" by David Dayen July 27, 2011
http://news.firedoglake.com/2011/07/27/doj-civil-rights-division-investigating-wells-fargo-for-mortgage-fraud/
"Wells Fargo Settles Mortgage Abuse Lawsuit For $85 Million" by Chris Rugaber/Derek Kravitz July 20
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/20/wells-fargo-settlement-mortgage-abuse_n_905054.html
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From http://www.TruthOut.org / By Yana Kuchinoff
"Move Your Money" Goes Nationwide As Cities Pull Their Money
Cities, churches, and many other groups are re-thinking their banking priorities
March 29, 2012 |
It's getting expensive these days to be a bad citizen in America, if you're a major bank. A growing number of cities around the country have passed, introduced or drafted responsible banking ordinances that hit big financial institutions where it hurts most - the pocketbook.
Los Angeles drafted a responsible banking ordinance in March that assesses banks that do business with the city based on foreclosure data; in February, Kansas City, Missouri,passed a resolution ordering the city manager to only do business with banks that don't engage in predatory lending; and in November, New York City introduced legislation that would force banks that want to hold city deposits to submit community reinvestment plans.
And just days ago, in Massachusetts, the city of Brockton was persuaded to move its money out of Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase altogether after they refused to negotiations on loan modifications for homeowners facing foreclosure.
The movement to divest from banking institutions continues to gain ground, as cities with large amount of capital join individuals, unions and congregations in pulling their money out of banks, or looking more carefully at the conditions a financial institution must meet to hold their money.
"I think it's because there are millions of people who for various reasons are angry at the way banks have taken control of the economy and our democracy," said Ilana Berger, co-director of The New Bottom Line, a coalition group "working together to build a movement that challenges established big bank interests on behalf of struggling and middle-class communities."
"People living under mountains of debt because of unfair fee and predatory practices for a long time felt like we need another solution," continued Berger, while "banks are not acting in the way that is in the best interests of our community and our economy."
"Over the past few months people have started to see a movement that addresses this," she said.
Legislation is also being considered in "Austin, Boston, the Bay Area (San Francisco/Oakland, CA), Chicago, Minneapolis, San Jose, CA, and Portland, OR.," according to The New Bottom Line.
Bank of America, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase have all come under fire since they were bailed out by the federal government in 2008 for actions that community groups say may have helped their stockholders, but often left people facing unfair foreclosure. These included predatory lending, robo-signing of foreclosure documents and risky investments.
While divestment from big banks began as a progressive issue, with the Occupy movement taking on the rallying cry as well as groups like Move Our Money, Berger says that "if you are in a city with a very high foreclosure rate, you don't have to be progressive to see that it's costing the city money."
It's become a "common sense issue," said Berger.
While the sheer financial power of cities makes them a huge player in the divestment movement, other groups that could have an impact have also jumped on board.
These include churches and union groups, both of which have economic muscle and a connection to the community, said Tim Lilienthal, lead organizer for bank accountability with the Pico National Network.
"If you go into any corner of the country and go into any congregation, there are lots of things that they are dealing with, hearing the same stories that people have been experiencing this for years and years," said Lilienthal.
The Pico group estimates that 25 different congregations in their network have together moved $30 million from big banks. Most recently, a San Jose priest made headlines when he diverted $3 million from Bank of America to a local credit union.
The primary demand coming from the groups that Berger and Lilienthal work with is for banks to agree to large-scale principal reduction, a move that they say could help thousands of homeowners.
Principal reduction would reduce the amount of money that underwater homeowners, who owe more money than their houses are worth, are paying on their mortgages and, thereby, stem the tide of foreclosures.
ProPublica has called the issue "one of the most politically charged debates about the housing crisis," and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which oversees the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, has been vehemently against the proposal.
According to a report by The New Bottom Line, principal reductions by big banks would create one millions jobs annually, save taxpayers money and would let the average family pay $500 per month less on their mortgage.
Until this aim is achieved, Lilienthal said he sees the divestment movement continuing to grow.
"What we are aspiring to is not just think about where we are moving our money out of," he said, "but also think of our money as being kind of an organized force."
This article is a Truthout original.
Yana Kuchinoff is an assistant editor at Truthout.
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From http://www.AlterNet.org / By Lauren Kelley
Beyond Robo-Signing: 3 Other Ways Bank of America Is Screwing Americans
As outraged as Americans are about robo-signing (and they should be), the use of foreclosure mills doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of Bank of America's dastardly deeds.
March 30, 2012 |
Few institutions incite the kind of populist anger that Bank of America does, even as the Occupy movement stokes rage at Wall Street in general. And with good reason - in an industry that is known for being corrupt, immoral, and ungrateful leeches of taxpayer dollars, Bank of America stands out. The bank, it seems, is constantly making headlines for some new form of corruption or act of greed that screws consumers while padding its executives' pockets. And it gets away with it every time.
The bank was at the forefront of the dubious practice known as "robo-signing" - hiring third-party companies staffed by underqualified foreclosure "experts" to cut corners during the foreclosure process, processing thousands upon thousands of foreclosures a month and wreaking havoc on homeowners' lives.
But as outraged as Americans are about robo-signing (and they should be, especially since the big banks continued to use the practice long after they agreed to stop), the use of foreclosure mills doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of Bank of America's dastardly deeds. As Matt Taibbi writes in his devastating piece about Bank of America in this month's Rolling Stone:
[H]ere's how seriously fucked the financial markets are: Even the most vocal critics of Bank of America consider the mass, factory-style production of tens of thousands of fake legal documents per month not that big a deal. "Robo-signing is like focusing on Bernie Madoff's accountant," quips April Charney, a well-known foreclosure lawyer who has spent large chunks of the past two decades in battle with Bank of America.
Robo-signing is not the disease - it's a symptom of Bank of America's entire attitude toward the law.
Indeed, the bank is screwing Americans is so many ways that robo-signing, awful as it is, is but a drop in the bucket. Below are several examples (among many) of how Bank of America is hurting consumers while continuing to dole out plenty of dough in executive bonuses and compensation.
1. Siccing collections agencies on people who are not in debt
Thanks to Bank of America, we now know that there's something more maddening and nightmarish than being hounded by debt collectors: being hounded by debt collectors when you don't owe anything.
A la their infamous illegal foreclosure problem, big banks are in the practice hiring third-party companies to handle debt collection for them. That would be all fine and well if the banks took care to pass on accurate documentation about their customers. But they don't. American Banker reports this week on a woman named Karen Stevens, who's spent the past three years fighting off a collection agency that Bank of America hired to collect $1,900 in debt - debt that Stevens has long since paid off. Stevens was only able to put an end to the fiasco by hiring a lawyer and suing the collection agency.
Stevens' case appears to be an example of what happens when banks sell batches of accounts without sufficiently scrubbing them of errors and discrepancies ( see related story). Such oversights are drawing into collections quagmires an unknown number of consumers who owe nothing, or for whom debt records are incomplete or nonexistent. For banks, it's a problem that threatens to spark a legal or regulatory backlash or to do further damage to already tarnished reputations.
Aside from getting this work (messily) off their plates, the advantage for Bank of America in doing business this way is that they don't have to deal with their clients' lawsuits when they get screwed over. Blame it on the third-party guy!
2. Sneakily ratcheting up fees on the 99%
As I wrote earlier this month , Bank of America is one of the mega banks that's quietly ratcheting up fees, especially for its lower-income customers, to compensate for new regulations that were designed to protect those very individuals.
This is an especially ballsy move for Bank of America, since it was BofA's proposed $5 monthly debit card fee that incited so much consumer outrage last fall. And yet, mere months later, the bank has announced a fee "overhaul" that will result in customers paying up to $25 per month for a basic checking account.
Maddeningly, the bank is most focused on increasing fees for low-income consumers - Americans who may have trouble maintaining a minimum account balance or who do not have multiple bank services, such as a mortgage. In addition, these customers may soon have less banking opportunities in general, as Bank of America, among other big banks, plans to shift its resources to cater more to "up markets" that make the bank more money than less-wealthy communities.
3. Exploiting the unemployed to rake in fees
When South Carolina signed a deal with Bank of America to distribute unemployment benefits via prepaid debit cards, chances are the state was not actively trying to screw its unemployed citizens. But that is exactly what happened, because Bank of America took advantage of its contract with the state to exploit unemployed South Carolinians by charging many of them hefty fees to access their benefits.
Huffington Post's Janell Ross reported late last year that citizens who live in towns without Bank of America branches - and there are many such individuals in South Carolina - are forced to either drive to another town to access their benefits (something many cannot afford to do) or pay a fee for withdrawing money from a non-BofA ATM. One woman profiled in Ross' article, Shawna Busby, had to choose between making a 100-mile round trip drive to Columbia to access her benefits or pay up. Busby estimated that she had paid $350 in fees to withdraw the benefits that she was legally owed - money she desperately needs for her family since she is, of course, unemployed.
---
Of course, these are only a few of the ways Bank of America is screwing over the citizens whose taxpayers kept the bank afloat during the financial crisis the bank helped create. And it is only small consolation that BofA claims to be suffering financially these days, because, as Taibbi notes, the bank seems to have plenty of money to go around for bonuses and compensation:
Bank of America didn't pay a dime in federal taxes last year. Or the year before. In fact, they got a $1 billion refund last year. They claimed it was because they had pretax losses of $5.4 billion in 2010. They paid out $35 billion in bonuses and compensation that year. You do the math.
As for the $26 billion settlement that Bank of America and other big banks got slapped with? It let the banks off the hook for its robo-signing misadventures, and may not even be properly enforced by the government. Even if it is, it will be "woefully inadequate to address the wider fraud that went on in creating and pooling mortgages."
On that note, I leave you with three simple words: Move. Your. Money.
Lauren Kelley is an associate editor at AlterNet and a freelance writer and editor who has contributed to Change.org, The L Magazine and Time Out New York. She lives in Brooklyn. Follow her on Twitter here.
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http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/9-strategies-to-end-corporate-rule/watch-us-move-our-millions
Watch Us Move Our Millions
Cities, churches, and colleges take steps to move their money home.
by Rebecca Leisher
posted Feb 01, 2012
Since the big corporate banks crashed the economy in 2008, they've been rewarded with bailouts, tax breaks, and bonuses, while American workers lose jobs and homes. Little wonder that many Americans-and now, institutions and local governments-have been closing their accounts at big corporate banks and transferring their money to community banks and credit unions. The idea is to send a strong message about responsibility to government and Wall Street, while supporting institutions that genuinely stimulate local economies.
Bank Transfer Day was publicized over five weeks, largely through social networks. In that period, credit unions received an estimated $4.5 billion in new deposits transferred from banks, according to the Credit Union National Association.
Encouraged by the popularity of the "Move Your Money" campaign, citizens are calling for institutions to be accountable and "Move Our Money." A number of schools, churches, and local governments across the country are transferring large sums, or at least considering it, in what looks like the beginning of a broad movement to invest in local economies instead of Wall Street.
Last year the city of San Jose moved nearly $1 billion from Bank of America because of the bank's high record of home foreclosures. City Council members linked foreclosures to lost tax revenues and cuts to jobs and services, and urged other U.S. cities to follow San Jose's example. More recently, in November 2011, the Seattle City Council responded to the Occupy movement by unanimously passing a resolution to review its banking and investment practices "to ensure that public funds are invested in responsible financial institutions that support our community." Officials in Portland, Ore., Los Angeles, and New York City are discussing proposals that address how and where city funds are invested.
Massachusetts launched the Small Business Banking Partnership initiative last year to leverage small business loans and has already deposited $106 million in state reserve funds into community banks.
Student activists and the Responsible Endowments Coalition are urging colleges and universities-some of which have assets comparable to those of a town or city-to move at least a portion of their endowments from Wall Street. The Peralta Community Colleges District in California, with an annual budget of $140 million, has done just that. The district's board of trustees voted unanimously in November to move its assets into community banks and credit unions.
A Separation of Church and Bank
Video: After Bank of America foreclosed on thousands of homes
in their San Jose parish, the members of this Catholic
church bid it goodbye-
and took $3 million with them.
Churches and faith organizations are moving their money too. Congregations in the California interfaith coalition LA Voice vowed to divest $2 million from Wells Fargo and Bank of America, ending a 200-year relationship with the big banks. The Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in East San Jose, Calif., pulled $3 million out of Bank of America and reinvested the funds into Micro Branch, a division of Self-Help Federal Credit Union designed to assist underserved communities.
Moving money is most effective where banking practices and investments are transparent. Oregon Banks Local represents small business, family farms, and community banks. It offers a website tool that ranks local banks and credit unions on criteria like headquarters location, jobs created, and extent of local investment to show which financial institutions truly serve local communities.
"People from all walks of life are angry at the banks," says Ilana Berger, co-director of The New Bottom Line, a national campaign that promotes moving money from Wall Street. But the broad appeal of this grassroots movement toward financial reform is based on more than anger or strategy. "It's a way to move our money to follow our values," says Berger. "It's an opportunity to really protest against the banks, but also a way to show what we want them to be."
Rebecca Leisher wrote this article for 9 Strategies to End Corporate Rule, the Spring 2012 issue of YES! Magazine. Rebecca is a freelance writer and former YES! intern.
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http://www.yesmagazine.org/new-economy/a-separation-of-church-and-bank
Big News on Bank Transfers
The Occupy effect? In the last 3 months, Americans switched banks at three times the normal rate.
by Brooke Jarvis
posted Feb 03, 2012
Two summers ago, at the U.S. Social Forum, I attended a panel discussion about ways to expand the use of credit unions as alternatives to the "too big to fail" banks whose risky investments had helped tank the economy. Each of the speakers-people involved in credit union leadership or advocacy-expressed confusion and frustration that they hadn't already seen a post-crisis shift away from corporate banks and toward credit unions (which have the advantages of being not-for-profit, owned and governed by their depositors, far more likely than big banks to lend to small businesses, and not responsible for any global economic meltdowns).
It seemed that even as Americans were angry with Big Finance, they didn't make the connection to their personal accounts.
In the last 90 days, Americans changed banking providers at three times the normal rate, with 5.6 million people moving their money to a different bank.
Fast forward to last fall-when Occupy Wall Street was in full swing and activists were mobilizing around Bank Transfer Day, an effort to get customers to leave their Wall Street banks-and it seemed everybody was making the connection. Suddenly I was overhearing conversations on the ferry, on the bus, on the soccer field. People kept saying, "I really should have done this a long time ago, but I'm switching from Bank of America [or Chase, or Wells Fargo]. What bank do you use?" Local credit unions and community banks started staying open for extra hours to accommodate the rush of new customers. One morning in November, at my own credit union, I overheard a man explaining to the teller that he was considering becoming a member-but first he wanted to know if his money would be invested in mortgage-backed securities or credit default swaps.
This change, it turns out, was much more than anecdotal. A new analysis from the firm Javelin Strategy and Research found that, in the last 90 days, Americans changed banking providers at three times the normal rate, with 5.6 million people moving their money to a different bank.
Bank Transfer Day wasn't the first major effort to get people to ditch Wall Street banks, but it was the first to have this level of impact. Arianna Huffington spearheaded a 2010 mobilization, the Move Your Money Project, to move customers to community banks ("Our money has been used to make the system worse-what if we used it to make the system better?" she wrote). While the project gained a fair amount of interest, Javelin reports that the actual bank defections it prompted failed to register on its surveys.
So why was 2011's exodus so much bigger? Eleven percent of those who moved their money-some 610,000 people-reported that they did so directly because of Occupy Wall Street and Bank Transfer Day. The Occupy movement helped bring corporate power to the forefront of national discourse; Bank Transfer Day offered a clear, practical way for people to send a message-a chance to turn the mundane question of bank choice into a stance about their personal economic values.
Move Your Money and Save
Big banks don't just undermine local economies-they're bad for your wallet, too.
Then, just as the Occupy movement-and the media scrutiny it prompted-got more Americans thinking critically about the role of big banks in their lives, Bank of America announced a new monthly fee on debit card use. BofA became an instant poster child for out-of-control corporate greed, with hundreds of thousands of people signing petitions against the fee or pledging to close their accounts. President Obama condemned it; a Fox Business anchor cut up her card on the air. Eventually, Bank of America pulled the idea, but not before helping to confirm, for millions of Americans, the Occupy movement's charges that Wall Street banks operate by putting profits before public good-as they did with the practices that caused the financial crisis.
"It's just a $5 fee, but it really is symbolic of so much more," Norma Garcia, of the advocacy group Consumers Union, told the Washington Post. In the end, it helped launch Bank Transfer Day to new heights: 26 percent of those who changed banks cited excessive fees at their current institution.
They were surprised they hadn't already seen a post-crisis shift away from corporate banks and toward credit unions (which have the advantages of being not-for-profit, owned and governed by their depositors, far more likely than big banks to lend to small businesses, and not responsible for any global economic meltdowns).
Fees, of course, are just one of many reasons to switch to a credit union (though there's an interesting history-very much related to the deeper problems of corporate banks-that explains why credit unions and community banks tend to have lower fees). Still, the Bank of America backlash was a significant reminder, to the finance industry as well as to consumers, that giant banks aren't the only option-and that there are a variety of advantages to being mindful about what we support with our investments.
Indeed, the bank transfer push doesn't seem to be losing momentum, as large institutional accounts-including cities, universities, and churches-continue to join the bandwagon. San Jose, Calif. moved $1 billion from Bank of America; just this week, Berkeley announced a desire to move its reserves from Wells Fargo to local credit unions; and proposals are under consideration in Portland, Los Angeles, and New York City.
on WJFF tonite; 350 petition signatures so far; new Jessica Vecchione video!...
[250 lawn signs in Weds.; need $1000-- Joel for Congress, 324 Browns
Pond Road Staatsburg, NY 12580!]
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[second-- check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RME2lfy5ZoA ;
http://vimeo.com/39486346 -- fwd!...(thx, Jessica Vecchione!!!)]
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[third-- you do NOT want to miss truly all-star, star-studded
assemblage of musicians comin' out next Weds. Apr. 11th 8 pm to play
at our campaign benefit at Harmony Cafe at Wok 'n Roll Cafe at 52
Mill Hill Road in Woodstock-- Joey Eppard, Mighty Xee/One Sky, EC
Lorick/GaiaWolf, Liana Turner, Erayna Cranston Anderson, Pat Lamanna,
Forrest Hackenbrock et. al.!...(and yep-- even ol' MC Whitebread;
lol); for much more on this see
http://www.reverbnation.com/venue/harmonycafeatwoknroll ; let's pack
the house, people!]
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[fourth-- personal plea here from director of my campaign video-- pls
heed her plea(!)...(watch video, fwd!)]
From: Jessica Vecchione
Subject: email blast
Date: Apr 1, 2012 9:28 PM
Joel,
In your next email blast, include the links to the videos I did for
you......otherwise......no one sees them. You gotta work 'em.......
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RME2lfy5ZoA - Joel on YouTube
http://vimeo.com/39486346 - Joel on Vimeo
Ciao,
Jessica
veccvideography.com
http://vimeo.com/veccvid
(607)746-6110
(607)643-5362 cell
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Hi all...
Tune in to WJFF (90.5 FM/94.5 FM webcast @ http://www.JFFRadio.org )
tonight from 8:30 to 9:30 pm...
My interview w/reporter Jason Dole ( http://www.WatershedPost.com /
http://www.TheCatskillChronicle.com ) will be on...(pass it
on!)...[the name of this weekly Monday night program on WJFF is
"Making Waves"]...
Also-- thanks BIG-time to everyone out there who's been putting their
collective nose to the grindstone to gather petition signatures to
make this campaign real-- we've collected 350 so far, thanks to
you!...
[Burr Hubbell, Manna Jo Greene, Bill McCabe, Bill and Melinda
McKnight, Gloria Waslyn, Cameron Williams, Liana Turner, Martin
Michaels, Jonathan Wright, Pam Krimsky, Chris Knoeppel, Eric Deyo,
Doug Smyth, Irwin Sperber, Andi Weiss Bartczak, Dan and Mitzi
Terpening, many more all over 19th-- thanx!!!]
On Mon. Apr. 16th we have to present at least 946 signatures (2000 to
be safe) to NYS Board of Elections in Albany; don't forget-- if
you're a registered Dem here in NYS, let us know-- we'll send you a
list of registered Dems in your community; download petition here:
http://www.joelforcongress.org/sites/default/files/Joel.pdf -- and
expand it to legal-size paper to be official-- or call us at
845-444-0599-- and we'll send you petition!...
We need Dem signatures collected in Dutchess, Columbia, Greene,
Rensselaer, Delaware, Otsego, Sullivan, Ulster, Schoharie,
Montgomery, Broome counties!...(and sent back to us asap-- at 324
Browns Pond Road, Staatsburg, NY 12580)......[don't forget-- this is
a PRIMARY(!)...(why not support progressive?)]...
[district maps:
https://www.nyed.uscourts.gov/pub/docs/cv/324457/1.11.cv.5632.6729180.2.pdf
;
demographics
https://www.nyed.uscourts.gov/pub/docs/cv/324457/1.11.cv.5632.6729180.3.pdf
;
district lines as they were--
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/findyourreps.xpd?state=NY ]
Again-- if you haven't yet-- please check out
http://www.JoelforCongress.org !...
[sadly, more and more folks in Dem power structure bending over
backwards to push us out of race-- why?]
Our campaign for Congress has been endorsed by Pete Seeger, Cornel
West, Josh Fox, Medea Benjamin,Troy Area Labor Council President Mike
Keenan, Dutchess County Elections Commissioner Fran Knapp (and her
considerable crew of supporters), PEF/DEC anti-fracking engineer
Wayne Bayer, and 260 others; pls sign on to
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel if you agree!...(and pass it on)...
Rep. Maurice Hinchey has proven over and over again for decades that
his populist, progressive approach to electoral politics is not
simply a moral imperative-- but a proven winning message...
[those speaking of betrayal need to consider betrayal re: supporting
progressive candidate in primary now!]
This is the same thing I've proven here in Dutchess County-- winning
five elections in a row now in my County Legislature seat (in
district with GOP town supervisors long in Rhinebeck and Clinton
here-- important; people are sick of same old, same old business as
usual; want true POPULIST rep in D.C....
Do you agree with Rep. Maurice Hinchey that we should save $400
billion a year by expanding Medicare to cover everyone (HVALF
agrees), that we should bring back FDR's Glass-Steagall Act to break
up the big banks, that our Constitution should be amended to make it
clear corporations aren't people (re: Citizens United/SuperPACs),
that NAFTA, CAFTA, and free trade agreements with Korea, Colombia,
and Panama should never have been passed, that the Fair Elections Now
Act should be passed to make real federal version of
Maine/Connecticut-style Clean Money Clean Elections campaign finance
reform, and that End Excessive Oil Speculation Now legislation should
be passed?...
I do; in fact I've felt strongly about those 6 issues for a long
time: that Maurice was 100% right on those...
[...long before I decided last summer to throw my hat in the ring to
run against GOP Rep. Chris Gibson...]
Well-- if you agree with Maurice and I that Dem candidates for
Congress shouldn't shy from those six...
Then at least re: Congressional primary: why not support the
candidate keeping Maurice's legacy alive?
Already petitions are being circulated for me across new 19th c.d.
with support of these four Dems:
["Committee to Fill Vacancies"]
-- Bill McCabe (former three-term Dutchess County Legislator)
-- Doris Kelly (former Congressional candidate and Hyde Park Town Boardmember
-- Rachel Collins Kelly (former Copake Democratic candidate for Town Clerk)
-- Bob Balcom (current Chatham Town Boardmember)
I agree with Maurice Hinchey-- expand Medicare to cover all of us
[does Schreibman care?].
[
http://hinchey.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=928&Itemid=69
; recall effort I launched on this several years ago--
http://www.petitiononline.com/onepayer ; worked on this since '94]
I agree with Mo Hinchey-- bring back FDR's Glass-Steagall, break up
banks [does Schreibman care?].
[
http://hinchey.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1677&Itemid
; recall effort I launched on this several years ago--
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/FDRagain ]
I agree with Maurice Hinchey-- amend our Constitution: corporations
aren't people [Schreibman care?].
[ http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/04/01-1 ; recall my blog post
on all this from April 2010:
http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2010/04/hall-hinchey-for-movetoamend-public.html
]
I agree with Maurice Hinchey-- no NAFTA/CAFTA/Korea/Panama/Colombia
trade [Schreibman care?].
[
http://hinchey.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1740&Itemid
;
http://blog.timesunion.com/capitol/archives/83832/tonko-gibson-at-odds-on-trade-agreements/
]
I agree with Maurice Hinchey-- we need Fair Elections Now-- CMCE
reform [does Schreibman care?].
[ http://fairelectionsnow.org/supporters ; I've been pushing for CMCE
reform since 2000 w/Citizen Action]
I agree with Maurice Hinchey-- pass End Excessive Oil Speculation Now
[does Schreibman care?].
[
http://hinchey.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1666&
; recall my blog post:
http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2012/02/hincheysanders-right-end-excessive-oil.html
; also see my http://www.petitiononline.com/stopgame ]
But it's not just those six issues -- if you're just as upset as I am
that it's not just Republicans in Washington-- but also too many
Democrats-- that don't seem to be really speaking up against the rush
to war with Iran...aren't speaking up against fracking...aren't
speaking up against Wall Street (to break up big banks, tax Wall
Street speculation, and truly investigate those behind destruction of
our economy), aren't speaking up against indefinite
detention...aren't speaking up against bipartisan attack on
Medicare/Medicaid, aren't speaking up for a truly sizable public
works/infrastructure jobs program, aren't speaking up for Medicare
for all, aren't speaking up to amend our Constitution to make it
clear corporations aren't people, aren't speaking up Fair Elections
Now legislation (federal version of Clean Money Clean Elections
campaign finance reform), aren't speaking up for fair trade (to get
us out of job-killing NAFTA/GATT/WTO), aren't speaking up for our
troops to come home NOW from Afghanistan, aren't speaking out against
tar sands pipeline, aren't speaking up for our Constitutional
freedoms-- and aren't speaking up for Bradley Manning-- and aren't
speaking up for voting integrity to reject computerized voting
machines...(even Michael Moore reminded us all at Left Forum Sat. of
this issue)...
[Maurice is retiring, Wellstone has died, and Kucinich and Feingold
lost (for now)]
There's something you can do about it all this folks-- let's work,
KEEP Maurice's progressive legacy...
[unlike Schreibman, I am unafraid to stand up and protect the winning
progressive legacy of Maurice!]
Schreibman and his campaign have rejected the winning progressive
values of Maurice Hinchey...
Work with us to send message to Julian and his party machine power
structure in love with Cuomo...
You WILL not turn your back on Maurice's progressive legacy-- without
a fight-- from ALL us activists!...
[why is it that so many county Democratic chairs in party power
structure (like Schreibman himself) across NYS have long sat with
their mouths closed in deafening silence-- as Cuomo continues his
attack on unions, teachers, pensions, and working class New Yorkers
with budget cuts, selling out to wealthy campaign donors?...(killing
what's left of middle class, destroying union-backed Dem coalition);
more info: http://www.99PercentNY.org/
http://www.ABetterChoiceforNY.org/ http://www.FiscalPolicy.org/ ;
recall front-page article in yesterday's Poughkeepsie Journal on how
Cuomo property tax cap killing schools
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20120401/WATCHDOG/304010060/Schools-anticipate-tough-year-
]
Pass it on-- if you care about the future of our county, our valley,
our state and our country!...
[...and don't forget: it's NOT too late to zip out letters to the
editor to local papers about this progressive effort]
Joel
845-444-0599/876-2488
joeltyner@earthlink.net
http://www.JoelforCongress.org/
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel (260+ on board; join us!)
Pond Road Staatsburg, NY 12580!]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[second-- check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RME2lfy5ZoA ;
http://vimeo.com/39486346 -- fwd!...(thx, Jessica Vecchione!!!)]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[third-- you do NOT want to miss truly all-star, star-studded
assemblage of musicians comin' out next Weds. Apr. 11th 8 pm to play
at our campaign benefit at Harmony Cafe at Wok 'n Roll Cafe at 52
Mill Hill Road in Woodstock-- Joey Eppard, Mighty Xee/One Sky, EC
Lorick/GaiaWolf, Liana Turner, Erayna Cranston Anderson, Pat Lamanna,
Forrest Hackenbrock et. al.!...(and yep-- even ol' MC Whitebread;
lol); for much more on this see
http://www.reverbnation.com/venue/harmonycafeatwoknroll ; let's pack
the house, people!]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[fourth-- personal plea here from director of my campaign video-- pls
heed her plea(!)...(watch video, fwd!)]
From: Jessica Vecchione
Subject: email blast
Date: Apr 1, 2012 9:28 PM
Joel,
In your next email blast, include the links to the videos I did for
you......otherwise......no one sees them. You gotta work 'em.......
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RME2lfy5ZoA - Joel on YouTube
http://vimeo.com/39486346 - Joel on Vimeo
Ciao,
Jessica
veccvideography.com
http://vimeo.com/veccvid
(607)746-6110
(607)643-5362 cell
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Hi all...
Tune in to WJFF (90.5 FM/94.5 FM webcast @ http://www.JFFRadio.org )
tonight from 8:30 to 9:30 pm...
My interview w/reporter Jason Dole ( http://www.WatershedPost.com /
http://www.TheCatskillChronicle.com ) will be on...(pass it
on!)...[the name of this weekly Monday night program on WJFF is
"Making Waves"]...
Also-- thanks BIG-time to everyone out there who's been putting their
collective nose to the grindstone to gather petition signatures to
make this campaign real-- we've collected 350 so far, thanks to
you!...
[Burr Hubbell, Manna Jo Greene, Bill McCabe, Bill and Melinda
McKnight, Gloria Waslyn, Cameron Williams, Liana Turner, Martin
Michaels, Jonathan Wright, Pam Krimsky, Chris Knoeppel, Eric Deyo,
Doug Smyth, Irwin Sperber, Andi Weiss Bartczak, Dan and Mitzi
Terpening, many more all over 19th-- thanx!!!]
On Mon. Apr. 16th we have to present at least 946 signatures (2000 to
be safe) to NYS Board of Elections in Albany; don't forget-- if
you're a registered Dem here in NYS, let us know-- we'll send you a
list of registered Dems in your community; download petition here:
http://www.joelforcongress.org/sites/default/files/Joel.pdf -- and
expand it to legal-size paper to be official-- or call us at
845-444-0599-- and we'll send you petition!...
We need Dem signatures collected in Dutchess, Columbia, Greene,
Rensselaer, Delaware, Otsego, Sullivan, Ulster, Schoharie,
Montgomery, Broome counties!...(and sent back to us asap-- at 324
Browns Pond Road, Staatsburg, NY 12580)......[don't forget-- this is
a PRIMARY(!)...(why not support progressive?)]...
[district maps:
https://www.nyed.uscourts.gov/pub/docs/cv/324457/1.11.cv.5632.6729180.2.pdf
;
demographics
https://www.nyed.uscourts.gov/pub/docs/cv/324457/1.11.cv.5632.6729180.3.pdf
;
district lines as they were--
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/findyourreps.xpd?state=NY ]
Again-- if you haven't yet-- please check out
http://www.JoelforCongress.org !...
[sadly, more and more folks in Dem power structure bending over
backwards to push us out of race-- why?]
Our campaign for Congress has been endorsed by Pete Seeger, Cornel
West, Josh Fox, Medea Benjamin,Troy Area Labor Council President Mike
Keenan, Dutchess County Elections Commissioner Fran Knapp (and her
considerable crew of supporters), PEF/DEC anti-fracking engineer
Wayne Bayer, and 260 others; pls sign on to
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel if you agree!...(and pass it on)...
Rep. Maurice Hinchey has proven over and over again for decades that
his populist, progressive approach to electoral politics is not
simply a moral imperative-- but a proven winning message...
[those speaking of betrayal need to consider betrayal re: supporting
progressive candidate in primary now!]
This is the same thing I've proven here in Dutchess County-- winning
five elections in a row now in my County Legislature seat (in
district with GOP town supervisors long in Rhinebeck and Clinton
here-- important; people are sick of same old, same old business as
usual; want true POPULIST rep in D.C....
Do you agree with Rep. Maurice Hinchey that we should save $400
billion a year by expanding Medicare to cover everyone (HVALF
agrees), that we should bring back FDR's Glass-Steagall Act to break
up the big banks, that our Constitution should be amended to make it
clear corporations aren't people (re: Citizens United/SuperPACs),
that NAFTA, CAFTA, and free trade agreements with Korea, Colombia,
and Panama should never have been passed, that the Fair Elections Now
Act should be passed to make real federal version of
Maine/Connecticut-style Clean Money Clean Elections campaign finance
reform, and that End Excessive Oil Speculation Now legislation should
be passed?...
I do; in fact I've felt strongly about those 6 issues for a long
time: that Maurice was 100% right on those...
[...long before I decided last summer to throw my hat in the ring to
run against GOP Rep. Chris Gibson...]
Well-- if you agree with Maurice and I that Dem candidates for
Congress shouldn't shy from those six...
Then at least re: Congressional primary: why not support the
candidate keeping Maurice's legacy alive?
Already petitions are being circulated for me across new 19th c.d.
with support of these four Dems:
["Committee to Fill Vacancies"]
-- Bill McCabe (former three-term Dutchess County Legislator)
-- Doris Kelly (former Congressional candidate and Hyde Park Town Boardmember
-- Rachel Collins Kelly (former Copake Democratic candidate for Town Clerk)
-- Bob Balcom (current Chatham Town Boardmember)
I agree with Maurice Hinchey-- expand Medicare to cover all of us
[does Schreibman care?].
[
http://hinchey.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=928&Itemid=69
; recall effort I launched on this several years ago--
http://www.petitiononline.com/onepayer ; worked on this since '94]
I agree with Mo Hinchey-- bring back FDR's Glass-Steagall, break up
banks [does Schreibman care?].
[
http://hinchey.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1677&Itemid
; recall effort I launched on this several years ago--
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/FDRagain ]
I agree with Maurice Hinchey-- amend our Constitution: corporations
aren't people [Schreibman care?].
[ http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/04/01-1 ; recall my blog post
on all this from April 2010:
http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2010/04/hall-hinchey-for-movetoamend-public.html
]
I agree with Maurice Hinchey-- no NAFTA/CAFTA/Korea/Panama/Colombia
trade [Schreibman care?].
[
http://hinchey.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1740&Itemid
;
http://blog.timesunion.com/capitol/archives/83832/tonko-gibson-at-odds-on-trade-agreements/
]
I agree with Maurice Hinchey-- we need Fair Elections Now-- CMCE
reform [does Schreibman care?].
[ http://fairelectionsnow.org/supporters ; I've been pushing for CMCE
reform since 2000 w/Citizen Action]
I agree with Maurice Hinchey-- pass End Excessive Oil Speculation Now
[does Schreibman care?].
[
http://hinchey.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1666&
; recall my blog post:
http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2012/02/hincheysanders-right-end-excessive-oil.html
; also see my http://www.petitiononline.com/stopgame ]
But it's not just those six issues -- if you're just as upset as I am
that it's not just Republicans in Washington-- but also too many
Democrats-- that don't seem to be really speaking up against the rush
to war with Iran...aren't speaking up against fracking...aren't
speaking up against Wall Street (to break up big banks, tax Wall
Street speculation, and truly investigate those behind destruction of
our economy), aren't speaking up against indefinite
detention...aren't speaking up against bipartisan attack on
Medicare/Medicaid, aren't speaking up for a truly sizable public
works/infrastructure jobs program, aren't speaking up for Medicare
for all, aren't speaking up to amend our Constitution to make it
clear corporations aren't people, aren't speaking up Fair Elections
Now legislation (federal version of Clean Money Clean Elections
campaign finance reform), aren't speaking up for fair trade (to get
us out of job-killing NAFTA/GATT/WTO), aren't speaking up for our
troops to come home NOW from Afghanistan, aren't speaking out against
tar sands pipeline, aren't speaking up for our Constitutional
freedoms-- and aren't speaking up for Bradley Manning-- and aren't
speaking up for voting integrity to reject computerized voting
machines...(even Michael Moore reminded us all at Left Forum Sat. of
this issue)...
[Maurice is retiring, Wellstone has died, and Kucinich and Feingold
lost (for now)]
There's something you can do about it all this folks-- let's work,
KEEP Maurice's progressive legacy...
[unlike Schreibman, I am unafraid to stand up and protect the winning
progressive legacy of Maurice!]
Schreibman and his campaign have rejected the winning progressive
values of Maurice Hinchey...
Work with us to send message to Julian and his party machine power
structure in love with Cuomo...
You WILL not turn your back on Maurice's progressive legacy-- without
a fight-- from ALL us activists!...
[why is it that so many county Democratic chairs in party power
structure (like Schreibman himself) across NYS have long sat with
their mouths closed in deafening silence-- as Cuomo continues his
attack on unions, teachers, pensions, and working class New Yorkers
with budget cuts, selling out to wealthy campaign donors?...(killing
what's left of middle class, destroying union-backed Dem coalition);
more info: http://www.99PercentNY.org/
http://www.ABetterChoiceforNY.org/ http://www.FiscalPolicy.org/ ;
recall front-page article in yesterday's Poughkeepsie Journal on how
Cuomo property tax cap killing schools
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20120401/WATCHDOG/304010060/Schools-anticipate-tough-year-
]
Pass it on-- if you care about the future of our county, our valley,
our state and our country!...
[...and don't forget: it's NOT too late to zip out letters to the
editor to local papers about this progressive effort]
Joel
845-444-0599/876-2488
joeltyner@earthlink.net
http://www.JoelforCongress.org/
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel (260+ on board; join us!)
250+ on board our campaign for Congress-- need your help petitioning now!...
Hi all...
Are you a registered Democrat here in New York State?...
If you are, we need your help NOW-- to collect the minimum 946 petition signatures we need to make sure Team Tyner is on the ballot for the June 26th primary for the new 19th Congressional district!...(call us now at 845-444-0599-- we'll send you blank petitions and walk/drive lists of registered Dems in your area!)...
[we have to bring these up to NYS Board of Elections by Mon. Apr. 16th-- so send what you've collected to us well before then so we can put them all together, organized!]
For eight months now I've been campaigning heavily in Dutchess, Columbia, Greene, Rensselaer, Delaware, and Otsego counties-- and since lines changed in Ulster, Sullivan, Schoharie, Montgomery counties-- new 19th Congressional district...
[note-- you don't necessarily have to live in the 19th c.d. to collect petition signatures from registered Dems in these ten counties listed above-- you just have to be a registered Dem in NYS yourself; download petition (must be on 8 1/2" x 14" paper) at this link-- http://www.joelforcongress.org/node/23 !]
[district maps: https://www.nyed.uscourts.gov/pub/docs/cv/324457/1.11.cv.5632.6729180.2.pdf ;
demographics https://www.nyed.uscourts.gov/pub/docs/cv/324457/1.11.cv.5632.6729180.3.pdf ;
former district lines-- http://www.govtrack.us/congress/findyourreps.xpd?state=NY ]
Aside from over 250 folks listed below (see/sign www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel), our campaign for Congress has been endorsed by Pete Seeger, Cornel West, Josh Fox, Medea Benjamin, Manna Jo Greene, Dutchess County Democratic Elections Commissioner Fran Knapp, Troy Area Labor Council President Mike Keenan, and PEF/DEC anti-fracking engineer Wayne Bayer!...
"I don't think he's [Julian Schreibman] going to emulate too closely the ideals of Maurice Hinchey." [!]
-- new Ulster County Dem Chair Frank Cardinale [at end of March Ulster County Democratic Convention(!)]
Fascinating.....so let me ask you this question about six key core progressive Democratic values:
Do you agree with Rep. Maurice Hinchey that we should save $400 billion a year by expanding Medicare to cover everyone (HVALF agrees), that we should bring back FDR's Glass-Steagall Act to break up the big banks, that our Constitution should be amended to make it clear corporations aren't people (re: Citizens United/SuperPACs), that NAFTA, CAFTA, and free trade agreements with Korea, Colombia, and Panama should never have been passed, that the Fair Elections Now Act should be passed to make real federal version of Maine/Connecticut-style Clean Money Clean Elections campaign finance reform, and that End Excessive Oil Speculation Now legislation should be passed?...
I do; in fact I've felt strongly about those 6 issues for a long time: that Maurice was 100% right on those...
[...long before I decided last summer to throw my hat in the ring to run against GOP Rep. Chris Gibson...]
Well-- if you agree with Maurice and I that Dem candidates for Congress shouldn't shy from those six...
Then at least re: Congressional primary: why not support the candidate keeping Maurice's legacy alive?
[also-- frankly-- Maurice has proven over and over again for decades that his populist, progressive approach to electoral politics is not simply a moral imperative-- but a proven winning message; the same thing I've proven here in Dutchess County-- winning five elections in a row now in my County Legislature seat (in district with GOP town supervisors long in Rhinebeck and Clinton here-- important; people are sick of same old, same old business as usual; want true POPULIST rep in Congress: fact!]
But it's not just those six issues -- if you're just as upset as I am that it's not just Republicans in Washington-- but also too many Democrats-- that don't seem to be really speaking up against the rush to war with Iran...aren't speaking up against fracking...aren't speaking up against Wall Street (to break up big banks, tax Wall Street speculation, and truly investigate those behind destruction of our economy), aren't speaking up against indefinite detention...aren't speaking up against bipartisan attack on Medicare/Medicaid, aren't speaking up for a truly sizable public works/infrastructure jobs program, aren't speaking up for Medicare for all, aren't speaking up to amend our Constitution to make it clear corporations aren't people, aren't speaking up Fair Elections Now legislation (federal version of Clean Money Clean Elections campaign finance reform), aren't speaking up for fair trade (to get us out of job-killing NAFTA/GATT/WTO), aren't speaking up for our troops to come home NOW from Afghanistan, aren't speaking out against tar sands pipeline, aren't speaking up for our Constitutional freedoms-- and aren't speaking up for Bradley Manning-- and aren't speaking up for voting integrity to reject computerized voting machines...(even Michael Moore reminded us all at Left Forum Sat. of this issue)...
[Maurice and Bernie Sanders are retiring, Wellstone has died, and Kucinich and Feingold lost (for now)]
There's something you can do about it all this folks-- let's work, KEEP Maurice's progressive legacy...
[unlike Schreibman, I am unafraid to stand up and protect the winning progressive legacy of Maurice!]
Pass it on...
Joel
845-444-0599/876-2488
joeltyner@earthlink.net
http://www.JoelforCongress.org
[send what $$$ you can-- to Joel for Congress, 324 Browns Pond Road, Staatsburg, NY 12580!]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Join the 250+ below on board Team Tyner-- at www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel!...
Alice Wilbeck
Comments
Run, Joel, Run
Address; Zip Code
Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Maribel Pregnall
Comments
We need you, a person of action! Go Joel!
Address; Zip Code
18 Mt. View, Poughkeepsie, 12603
Joel and Kate Kopp
Comments
You'd be great in Congress.
Address; Zip Code
12572
Robby Long
Comments
I will support your running...Go, Joel, Go!
Address; Zip Code
86 Montgomery, Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Doris Soroko
Comments
Joel Tyner is a tireless worker for the community.
Address; Zip Code
Barrytown, 12507
D. Sommer
Comments
The Power is in You! Follow your dream. It is waiting.
Address; Zip Code
12540
Renee Snyder
Comments
Joel is the epitome of public service. His devotion is beyond compare.
Address; Zip Code
12580
Joan Grishman
Comments
We need your progressive voice in DC.
Address; Zip Code
Hyde Park, NY. 12538
linda Puiatti
Comments
Joel is hard working and I want him to go to congress!
Address; Zip Code
12531
Danny Shanahan
Comments
Hands down the best person for the job.
Address; Zip Code
19 Livingston Street, Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Peter Conklin
Comments
Joel would be far better than Gilliband. Solaman. Sweeny, Gilliband. No difference We need a real progresive like Joel
Address; Zip Code
12538
Steve Greenfield
Comments
I have to have comments? That won't help...
Address; Zip Code
New Paltz, 12561
Joanne Gelb
Comments
Joel will get the right things done
Address; Zip Code
36 Mulberry St. Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Joanne Klein
Comments
Go for it!
Address; Zip Code
PO Box 246, Clinton Corners, NY 12514
Irma Brownfield
Comments
Joel is a tireless worker for progressive causes.
Address; Zip Code
12580
Randi Sackheim
Comments
Joel would be perfect!
Address; Zip Code
103 Deer Hill Road, Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Douglas C. Smyth
Comments
Joel is a hard worker with his heart in the right place.
Address; Zip Code
44 Schultzville Rd., Staatsburg, NY 12580
Kate Watters
Comments
Do it!
Address; Zip Code
Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Frances Sandiford
Comments
I would like to endorse Joel Tyner to be a candidate for the election in the 20th D.C.
Address; Zip Code
Rhinecliff, NY 12574
Margaret Hesher
Comments
Joel is an untiring worker for his constituency. He will be a real asset in Congress.
Address; Zip Code
12578
Melanie Whaley
Comments
good luck Joel
Address; Zip Code
12522
Janet M. Reagon
Comments
Joel has been an effective DC legislator. Let's send him to Congress!
Address; Zip Code
23 Benson Road, Wassaic, NY 12592
Tonia Shoumatoff
Comments
Joel is diligent and pro-active for green initiatives and environmental causes throughout our region. He is a responsive legislator and would be a terrific Congressman.
Address; Zip Code
12592
Susan Gregory
Comments
Thanks to Joel for stepping up!
Address; Zip Code
Amenia NY 12501
Margaret O. Kelland
Comments
Go for it, Joel! This is our best chance in 40 years for the changes we've been working and praying for.
Address; Zip Code
13 Susan Lane, Poughkeepsie, NY 12603
Debbie Downey
Comments
Go for it!
Address; Zip Code
288 Leedsville Rd
Wendy McCarthy
Comments
Good Luck!
Address; Zip Code
106 Davis Rd. Salt Point N.Y. 12578
Thomas Baldino
Comments
Joel Tyner is a hard worker on behalf of his constituents and the environment while coming up with ideas to cut costs.
Address; Zip Code
19 North St., Beacon, NY 12508
Jeff Romano
Comments
joel understands and has demonstrated what being a public servant is all about
Address; Zip Code
88 frost road, rhinebeck, new york
Michael Nickerson
Comments
Run Joel Run!
Address; Zip Code
PO Box 105, 16 Schatzell Ave, Rhinecliff NY 12574
Kathleen V. Augustine
Comments
Go Joel!
Address; Zip Code
104 Prospect Hill Ext. Pine Plains, New York 12567
Jane Curran
Comments
Yes, let's do it!
Address; Zip Code
5 Village Green, Apt.E, Rhinebeck NY 12572
Laurence deSegonzac Levin
Comments
I endorse Joel Tyner for congressman for NY State's 20th district
Address; Zip Code
189 Amenia Union Road, Amenia, N.Y. 12501
Amity Reed
Comments
great!
Address; Zip Code
Elizaville, NY 12523
Matthew Verrilli
Comments
Yes I concur... Joel would be a representative that would allow the people to be the prominent force in politics.
Address; Zip Code
176 River Rd. Rhinebeck NY 12572
Robert Capowski
Comments
Joel will make a great congressman!
Address; Zip Code
2 Willard Road, Red Hook
Joseph P. Calabro MD
Comments
go for it Joel
Address; Zip Code
12601
Christopher Ruhe
Comments
He has my 100\% support
Address; Zip Code
37 Dutchess Terrace, Beacon, NY 12508
Anne McGrath
Comments
Joel has shown incredible stamina in his pursuit of justice and is a trail blazer like no other.
Address; Zip Code
12572
Michael West
Comments
Joel's highly qualified
Address; Zip Code
595 Rte 308 Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Deborah West
Comments
we need a hard working progressive like Joel
Address; Zip Code
595 Rte 308 Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Thomas L. Holsapple
Comments
A good and caring man for the job.
Address; Zip Code
Rhinebeck, NY 12572
katherine menconeri
Comments
yes joel to congress
Address; Zip Code
12514
Glen Burger
Comments
Joel Tyner does his homework and supports policies that allow all citizens of this great nation to live peaceful productive lives.
Address; Zip Code
Creek Road, Staatsburg, NY 12580
Andrea Replansky
Comments
There is no one better to represent our district. Go Joel!
Address; Zip Code
12572
Fred Nagel
Comments
elect a fighter for the public good
Address; Zip Code
12572
James Rosasco
Comments
Joel is a proven, extemely hardworking public servant.
Address; Zip Code
12572
Dana Tompkins
Comments
Joel has been a Bull-Dog in the County Legislature and has been fighting for ordinary people for over 15 years. He is relentless in his pursuit for truth and justice. If you have been waiting for someone who will give you a seat at the table, then help me send Joel Tyner to Congress and give our new President another link in the chain for "Change" that we must all forge together.
Address; Zip Code
73 College Lane Millbrook, NY 12545
Patricia Sewald
Comments
Let's send Joel to Congress!
Address; Zip Code
22 Pond Drive East Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Marcus A. Mello
Comments
Joel Tyner would be a great addition to Congress
Address; Zip Code
62 Arnett St., Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Joanne Engle
Comments
Yes to grassroots democracy!Yes to Joel!
Address; Zip Code
411 Sepasco Center St.Rhinebeck NY12572
kathleen everett
Comments
best of luck, joel...
Address; Zip Code
61 chestnut street rhinebeck 12572
Andrea Novick
Comments
Joel is the hardest worker fighting for the causes we all care about and would represent our district for all the right reasons.
Address; Zip Code
349 Ackert Hook Road Rhinebeck NY 12572
Rosemary Lyons Chase
Comments
I support Joel Tyner for Congress
Address; Zip Code
12567
Mel Eiger
Comments
Will make an excellent representative
Address; Zip Code
242 Attlebury Hill Road, Stanfordville, NY 12581
M. Diana Fantini
Comments
Joel will bring change we need!
Address; Zip Code
12523
Marcia Frahman
Comments
Joel's voice is needed in Congress
Address; Zip Code
19 North St. Beacon NY 12508
cynthia martin
Comments
good luck, we need to keep this area in the democratic party.
Address; Zip Code
clermont, ny 12526
Maretta Callahan
Comments
Please choose Joel to replace Kirsten Gillibrand!
Address; Zip Code
17 Somers Drive Rhinbeck NY 12572
Joseph Cassarino
Comments
Absolutely send Joel to Congress!
Address; Zip Code
6569 Springbrook Ave. Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Doris L. Dingee
Comments
I support Joel Tyner for Congress
Address; Zip Code
32 Pells Rd Rhinebeck NY 12572-33404
Richard Gilbert
Comments
Joel in Congress? The implications for all of us are enormous.
Address; Zip Code
7 Buttonwood Lane, Rhinebeck, 12572
Kathleen Miles
Comments
Joel is the best to send to Congress
Address; Zip Code
12572
Jeanne Stark
Comments
na
Address; Zip Code
12572
Michael Kelly
Comments
Take government back.
Address; Zip Code
Wall St., 12401
Gail A. Burger
Comments
Joel is THE progressive activist in this neck of the woods. He is totally dedicated to this work which most of us just cannot do.
Address; Zip Code
40 S. Creek Rd., Staatsburg NY 12580
Linda A. Manny
Comments
none
Address; Zip Code
16 Pond Drive West, Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Judi Gelardi
Comments
The best "hard worker"
Address; Zip Code
25 Rock City Rd., Milan 12571
Sonia Replansky
Comments
Send Joel to Congress
Address; Zip Code
112 Knollwood Road Rhinebeck NY, 12572
david miller
Comments
Mr. Tyner goes to Washington. Good movie title.
Address; Zip Code
93 east market street, Rhinebeck,12572
Shirley Burroughs
Comments
I support Tyner for Congress
Address; Zip Code
33 Starr Dr, Rhinebeck, NY 12572
John Fitzpatrick
Comments
Joel is a good match for our District and the House of Representatives.
Address; Zip Code
3 Village Green, Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Doreen Tignanelli
Comments
Armed with the facts, Joel will work tirelessly to improve the lives of middle and low income people in the 20th district.
Address; Zip Code
29 Colburn Drive Poughkeepsie NY 12603
Margaret L. Crawford
Comments
I know few polititians who so tirelessly standup for the issues he believes in even when the tide runs against him. He holds our interest and those of our children and the world above his own. I am sure he will carry this same determination and selfless quality to Washington if he were to replace Kirsten Gillibrand as our Congress person.
Address; Zip Code
37 Red Tail Rd. Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Jim Beretta
Comments
Joel puts community service first
Address; Zip Code
29 Colburn Drive Pok NY
alyssa kogon
Comments
As chair of the Town of Clinton Democrats, I firmly believe Joel Tyner is the best person for this job.
Address; Zip Code
7 Stonehouse Road Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Patricia Byron
Comments
I believe Joel will make a dynamic, compassionate Congressman.
Address; Zip Code
97 East Market Street, Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Joe Seeman
Comments
I wish all candidates were this solidly progressive
Address; Zip Code
12020
Thomas Midgley
Comments
Tyner would serve admirably as a man of the people, not as a puppet of monied interests.
Address; Zip Code
12601
Ariella Jaffe
Comments
vote for joel!
Address; Zip Code
556 Rt 199 Red Hook NY 12571
Sharon Rushton
Comments
Joel will make a wonderful congressman. He knows what he is talking about on ANY issue he is requested to investigate or advocate for. THE REAL DEAL is JOEL!
Address; Zip Code
12 Oak St, Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Edwin Pell
Comments
at last a democrat running for the democrat nomination
Address; Zip Code
Rhinebeck, New York, 12572
Roger D Russell
Comments
I support Joel Tyner
Address; Zip Code
13 Lango Rd, Amenia, NY 12501
Leland Lakritz
Comments
Your agenda is great. Power to the people!
Address; Zip Code
6 Tudor St, clifton Park, NY 12065
James Fulmer
Comments
I think Joel would work on implementing the legislation Obama needs in order to have an effective administration.
Address; Zip Code
104 Van Dam St Saratoga Springs NY 12866
creek iversen
Comments
No other local politician works harder in all the best directions for our county
Address; Zip Code
221 stonykill rd; wappingers falls, ny 12590
russ Austin
Comments
Joel has served us well in the county legislature and I think he would be an outstanding Congressman.
Address; Zip Code
12572
ilana nilsen
Comments
Joel bothers to find out what other communities are doing to improve our local world and will invariably do the same at higher levels. Transparent governemnt - that's Joel
Address; Zip Code
Verbank, 12585
Michael Cerrato
Comments
A good neighbor. Selfless in his pursuit.
Address; Zip Code
257 Browns Pond Road, Staatsburg, NY 12580
Roberta Schiff
Comments
Joel keeps us informed and moves us to act.
Address; Zip Code
12572
ward m.stanley
Comments
yes
Address; Zip Code
32 s. parsonage rhinebeck,ny 12572
Linda Stanley
Comments
I know that you can represent our whole district as well as you have our local district
Address; Zip Code
32 S. Parsonage St. Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Mark Dunlea
Comments
go green
Address; Zip Code
156 Big Toad Way, Poestenkill NY 12140
Anthony Henry Smith
Comments
It is without hesitation or reservation that I recommend your favorable consideration of Joel Tyner for any political office he chooses to seek. Tyner excels in all the skill sets necessary for a long and productive career in representative government, including skills applicable to the arts of memory, focus, communication, ethics, synthesis, and visionary leadership. His efforts to advance the quality of our political process as well as his efforts to improve the quality of our support for one another within all aspects of our commonweal are noteworthy and commendable. I am at your service should you require further information regarding this candidate: e-mail: ahsfolkapl@aol.com
Address; Zip Code
12601
Sheryl Griffith
Comments
Joel Tyner works constantly to inform the public and address our concerns - he's an experienced and effective legislator
Address; Zip Code
227 Linden Ave, Red Hook, NY 12571
virginia grab
Comments
I support Joel Tyner as a candidate for this office
Address; Zip Code
74 montgomery st, tivoli, ny 12583
Marilyn Unger
Comments
go Joel!
Address; Zip Code
245 Bog Hollow Rd., Wassaic, 12592
Kevin Rheden, Rhinebeck Village Trustee
Comments
With my full support and endorsement
Address; Zip Code
10 Gardern St. #3 Rhinebeck, N.Y. 12572
Miani Carnevale
Comments
Good timing
Address; Zip Code
556 Schultzville Road, Clinton Corners, NY 12514
Stephen Schultz
Comments
Joel Tyner is much better than Gillebrand ever was
Address; Zip Code
12580
Stuart K. Gilbert
Comments
I am in favor of your many efforts to save energy.
Address; Zip Code
37 North Loop, Rhinebeck N.Y, 12572
Conor Boylan
Comments
Good luck Joel!
Address; Zip Code
Seattle, 98116
Judy Malstrom
Comments
Joel is a fearless, hard-working public servant and more than deserves to be considered for a Congressional seat.
Address; Zip Code
324 Browns Pond Road Staatsburg, NY 12580
Patricia Carroll-Mathes
Comments
We need a progressive candidate and what better than a community organizer!
Address; Zip Code
66 South Street,Rhinebeck 12572
Gail Hermosilla
Comments
Joel Tyner is synonymous with integrity. I have watched him in action for many years (at least 15) and am thrilled at his well-earned success.
Address; Zip Code
43 Depot Hill Rd, Amenia, NY 12501
Dick Crenson
Comments
Joel Tyner is a super dedicated representative.
Address; Zip Code
26 Carter Rd. Pleasant Valley, NY 12569
Address; Zip Code
Rhinebeck
Patricia Zolnik
Comments
Joel will fight tirelessly for Main Street. Go Joel
Address; Zip Code
93 Deer Ridge Drive, Staatsburg, NY 12580
Valerie Carlisle
Comments
Joel Tyner is an excellent choice.
Address; Zip Code
83 Mountain Road, Pleasant Valley, NY 12560
Miranda Parry
Comments
Joel Tyner would represent the needs of the voters of this district!
Address; Zip Code
50 Oak Street, Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Scott Patrick Humphrey
Comments
Joel is a tireless adovcate for working families and works constantly to keep people informed about the issues that matter most in their daily lives. Please support his campaign.
Address; Zip Code
12601
Eyad Alkurabi
Comments
Very good.
Address; Zip Code
748 Carlton Rd.
chris knoeppel
Comments
joel is a true fighter for the people...he knows the issues, and has surefire ways to solve the problems facing new yorkers. two thumbs way up for joel tyner!!
Address; Zip Code
63 broadway hopewell jct, n.y. 12533
Andrew Sheppard
Comments
Go Joel!
Address; Zip Code
22 kelly street Rhinecliff NY 12574
Richard R Carlson
Comments
Joel has the vision[a better world is possible] the passion, the drive to make positive change,where needed.
Address; Zip Code
3 Bowdoin Ln.
Alison Francis
Comments
We need someone in Congress who has the courage to speak up for the working class, who is currently getting bashed--someone who is willing to fight for a fair tax structure.
Address; Zip Code
115 Hunns Lake Rd. Bangall, NY 12506
Jessica Stapf
Comments
Good luck, Joel!
Address; Zip Code
149 County Route 7, Pine Plains, NY 12567
Johan Gilbert
Comments
We should all do more than just sign this petition to help Joel, one of the most committed, tireless, experienced public servants I've ever seen get elected to a position where he can do even more.
Address; Zip Code
PO Box 321 Tivoli, NY 12583
Doris Kelly
Comments
Dutchess County knows where your heart is. We need representatives who care about the people.
Address; Zip Code
7 Susan Court
Matt Rosenberg
Comments
Go Joel!
Address; Zip Code
12574
Toby Stover
Comments
I support Joel for Congress & applaud his courage & insight
Address; Zip Code
12440
Samantha Moriah Kent
Comments
Send Joel to Congress!!
Address; Zip Code
12188
joseph severance
Comments
best of luck
Address; Zip Code
58 john st rensselaer, ny 12144
Gerard Lyons
Comments
Vote for Joel he will make change
Address; Zip Code
12528
William A. Meier
Address; Zip Code
12037
Sharon McFarlane
Comments
yes!
Address; Zip Code
6 Newington Avenue, Gansevoort, NY 12831
Burr Hubbell
Comments
Run for real change, Joel.
Address; Zip Code
37 Gristmill Lane
karen rieser
Comments
please accept this petition
Address; Zip Code
322 union st, hudson 12534
Rosemarie D. Amendolia
Comments
I want Joel Tyner for 20th District Rep., not Gibson
Address; Zip Code
12822
Judith Shub
Comments
Nominating Joel Tyner
Address; Zip Code
12075
Steven L. Essig
Comments
good luck
Address; Zip Code
12047
Judith Tully
Comments
Joel, you're needed in Washington!
Address; Zip Code
12804
Linda Russell
Comments
good luck
Address; Zip Code
55 Via Da Vinci, Clifton Park, NY 12065
Christopher Holcomb
Comments
I support this men over Chris Gibson, to run for congress.
Address; Zip Code
22 Sand Street, 12209
Darren Skotnes
Comments
With the debt crisis looming, we need to elect Joel to fix New York's economy.
Address; Zip Code
12054
Tamar Freund
Comments
the time has passed for "business as usual"
Address; Zip Code
12832
Tom Robinson
Comments
We the people of the 20th District deserve real representation. Send Joel to Congress!
Address; Zip Code
12831
Adam
Comments
Indeed
Address; Zip Code
78 North Lake Ave, Troy, NY, 12180
Tanya Domi
Comments
Send Joel to Congress
Address; Zip Code
10471
Chris DiFrancesco
Comments
Despite the volume and formatting of Joel's positions, he's usually right on all of them. I'd be honored to have him as my Congressman.
Address; Zip Code
2462 Salt POint Turnpike, Clinton Corners, NY 12514
Eric Somers
Comments
We need a progressive like Joel to represent us.
Address; Zip Code
160 Academy St. #5m 12601
Edward Kornbluh
Comments
Go Joel go! Boehner and Gibson are tied at the hip
Address; Zip Code
12156
Michelle Richardson
Comments
Tyner for 20 in '12!
Address; Zip Code
12174
Zachary Pappalau
Comments
this Petiton should be passed!!!
Address; Zip Code
41 southbury rd 12065
Rhonda Granger
Comments
Yes!!! someone who will represent the PEOPLE of the 20th CD and not a Faso puppet.!
Address; Zip Code
12173
Elfrieda labrie
Comments
20th back to dem.
Address; Zip Code
123 Schoolhouse Rd, Stuyvesant, NY 12183
gregory gallina
Comments
Joel has the energy and smarts to move our district into the future, Gibson has the Tea Party ideology to move us back to 1870.
Address; Zip Code
159 Beaver Road Red Hook, NY,12571
Pam Krimsky
Comments
Joel Tyner has integrity
Address; Zip Code
419 N Riverside Rd, Highland, NY, 12528
Gloria Wassell
Comments
Joel Tyner brings integrity and equality to everything he does. He works tirelessly and does extensive research to get the facts so that the public can make informed decisions about issues affecting their rights and their lives. He fights to pass legislation to protect people's rights and our environment. Joel educates the public by generously disseminating information about important issues and encouraging citizens to let their voice be heard. It's rare to find anyone with such dedication who gives selflessly to improve the livelihood and well-being of others. We need more people like Joel Tyner! Joel for Congress!!!
Address; Zip Code
12522
Josh
Comments
I support good Dems running for office and certainly to take back NY-20 from the GOP
Address; Zip Code
11215
Jack R. Lebowitz
Comments
Heard Joel speak yesterday in Saratoga Springs, he will make a great candidate and Representative
Address; Zip Code
Queensbury, NY 12804
Beth Rosenthal
Comments
you have my support
Address; Zip Code
13320
Jason Bates
Comments
I stand in agreement of this petition.
Address; Zip Code
209 Jay Street, Bsmt Apt, Albany, NY, 12210
jasmine shea
Comments
good luck
Address; Zip Code
45 parkwood drive 12205
Beth A. Taylor
Comments
moving to district soon. very interested in Joel's campaign
Address; Zip Code
12401
Annie Friedman
Comments
You definitely have my support
Address; Zip Code
12065
Larry Friedman
Comments
You are the perfect choice
Address; Zip Code
12065
Thomas Carpenter
Comments
We need new progressive representation. I've heard Joel doing interviews on the radio and he could be the guy!!
Address; Zip Code
116 Mt House Rd.,Palenville, NY 12463
Enid Futterman
Comments
Tyner is the real thing.
Address; Zip Code
12521
Andy Levitan
Comments
Joel would be a good representative
Address; Zip Code
3405 Chelsea Cove, Hopewell Junction, NY 12533
Mark Markiewicz
Comments
We need more Progresives to take back this country and counter the tea party.
Address; Zip Code
62 Pine Ridge II, Clifton Park MY 12065
Tom Conroy
Comments
I support Joel fully
Address; Zip Code
53 Spring Street Beacon NY 12508
Gail DiBennardo
Comments
Joel would be an excellent person to represent me.
Address; Zip Code
83 Mountain Road, Pleasant Valley NY 12569
Anne Hemenway
Comments
Joel Tyner for US Congress !
Address; Zip Code
12572
Shaun Chesley
Comments
Joel for Congress
Address; Zip Code
12601
Martin Baumgold
Comments
I will vote for Joel!
Address; Zip Code
205 Rt 16, Claverack, NY 12613
Andrew
Comments
Aside from political affiliations Joel upholds simple principles of democracy through his actions. This is what we all know to be a positive characteristic of an individual hired by us to represent us. This is why I have signed this petition.
Address; Zip Code
12581
Bob Elmendorf
Comments
I heard Joel speak in Albany. Joel has the personality, intelligence and the platform to win. He is what our district needs and they will come to realize it in the next few months. He is for all the right things that have been supported by moveon.org and that have to happen to take our country out of its moral and economic paralysis. Yes to tax the rich and the corporations, yes to preserving social net FDR established who was from our district! No to the wars. I support Joel 100\%.
Address; Zip Code
524 Shaker Museum Road, Malden Bridge, NY 12115
Leslie Gabriel
Comments
Go Joel !!!
Address; Zip Code
15 Schutts Road, PO Box 220, Hillsdale, NY 12529
Jean Collins
Comments
The will of the people is very important and the people want Joel Tyner!
Address; Zip Code
12477
Stephen Callahan
Comments
Joel has my vote for Congress !!!
Address; Zip Code
12571
sarah sweeny
Comments
Thanks for your courage, Joel Tyner - We need real democracy in this country, & to stop the special interests from destroying it.
Address; Zip Code
12583
Susan Holland
Comments
Maurice Hinchey & Dennis Kucinich need some company - it's time to send Joel Tyner to Congress, people!
Address; Zip Code
243 Union Center Road, Ulster Park, NY 12487
Wayne E. Carey
Comments
I support Mr. Joel Tyner in his efforts to win election to congress
Address; Zip Code
1637 Blue Hill Rd. Germantown, NY. 12526
lucy swenson
Comments
we need people like Joel in Congress to put health before wealth
Address; Zip Code
12463
Delia Mellis
Comments
Go Joel!
Address; Zip Code
12574
Kathleen Bartholomay
Comments
Thank god someone is running against Gibson!
Address; Zip Code
5288 County Route 113 Greenwich NY 12834
Scott McDonald
Comments
We need representatives who truly represent the people's interests. Thats why we need to elect Joel.
Address; Zip Code
6453 Montgomery Street, Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Karen Azer
Comments
We need to remove Chris Gibson!
Address; Zip Code
7 Mohawk Road, 12845
Larry Lampman
Comments
I strongly support this petition
Address; Zip Code
12503
Chris Merando
Comments
I strongly support Joel Tyner for Congress. He has always supported the people rather than special interests.
Address; Zip Code
64 S. Remsen Ave., Wappingers Falls, NY 12590
James Paul
Comments
He's the one we need
Address; Zip Code
12502
Larry Andreassen
Comments
You ARE a genius!
Address; Zip Code
56 yankee Folly Rd., New Paltz, N.Y. 12561
jeff region
Comments
H's the right man for the job!!
Address; Zip Code
12580
Marc Osterweil
Comments
Your candidacy would give us a real choice for a change.
Address; Zip Code
Margaretville, NY 12455
Jodiah Jacobs
Comments
I will do everything I can for Joel Tyner, he is our guy. He cares about the people, the working people.
Address; Zip Code
12571
Connie Coker, Rockland County Legislator
Comments
I don't live in the district but Joel Tyner would represent my values in Congress.
Address; Zip Code
87 Depot Pl., Nyack, NY 10960
Rachel Gorman
Comments
I support Joel Tyner!
Address; Zip Code
Box 1230, Vassar College, 124 Raymond Avenue Poughkeepsie, NY 12604
Joe Laux
Comments
As the former State Vice Chair of the Liberal Party, and Board member of the Capital District Gay and Lesbian Community Council, I think having Joel as an alternative to the Republican corporate owned Congressperson from this district will give the voters a clear choice; 2 more years of corporate greed and a Congress that is responsive to the wealthiest 1% only, or a Member of Congress who puts people before profit, integrity before sellout, and tolerance before injustice. We NEED Joel tyner in Congress!
Address; Zip Code
2041 River Road, West Coxsackie, NY 12192
brandon Hakulin
Comments
I support your run for Congress.
Address; Zip Code
8 rolling brook court, clifton park, ny 12065
scott eckert
Comments
Go get 'em!
Address; Zip Code
68 Livingston St. Rhinebeck, Ny 12572
Rachel Collins Kelly
Comments
Joel Tyner for Congress!
Address; Zip Code
18 Beach Rd., Copake, NY 12516
Rebecca Crawford
Comments
<3 Supporting and Solidarity!!!
Address; Zip Code
1 LongMeadow Drive Mechanicville, N.Y. 12118
Ben Alden
Comments
f
Address; Zip Code
12804
suzanne c curran
Comments
we need someone like joel he is honest and hard working and is a real person if you need help with your campain im still at 6 anderson school rd
Address; Zip Code
6 anderson school rd apt 105 staatsburg new york
Brian Reid
Comments
go Joel
Address; Zip Code
red hook, NY 12571
shirley ripullone
Comments
good luck
Address; Zip Code
07481
Elizabeth Novoa
Comments
none
Address; Zip Code
12603
Linda P. Strangio
Comments
I sign this Petiton in the belief you are a man of your word and that you have an outstanding history of dedicated work on the behalf of the people you represent. I wish you every success. However, in light of recent events, I no longer have faith in our current President. I would vote for Ralph Nader should he run again. He is a man of the people and for the people. He is a man I can have faith in. Buckle up American because we are in for a very bumpy ride! Peace
Address; Zip Code
5 Gage Avenue Glens Falls, NY 12801
Andrew Papula
Comments
We are the 99%
Address; Zip Code
1498 Rt. 55 Lagrangeville,NY 12540
Doug Sealy
Comments
We have got to get rid of Chris Gibson. He's just a tool of the right.
Address; Zip Code
409 Ridge Road Queensbury, NY 12804
Steve Wickham
Comments
My family lives in this district and they need a representative like Joel. Someone who will put the People first.
Address; Zip Code
233 Executive Dr Guilderland, NY 12084
Scott Redden
Comments
I support Joel in his bid against Gibson for congressional office.
Address; Zip Code
89 Columbia Street, Albany NY, 12210
Stephen Moss
Comments
Joel Tyner believes in Constitutional values, and votes accordingly. He is actively engaged with the community every single day, and listens and responds to virtually every persons comments or concerns.
Address; Zip Code
Maple St. Glens Falls, NY 12801
Ethan Watters
Comments
Best of luck Joel
Address; Zip Code
32507
Fred Nagel
Comments
Reform both parties. Occupy the corrupt political system.
Address; Zip Code
8 Clay Ct. Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Marcia Slatkin
Comments
Joel is tireless in his fight for justice in all areas: education, jail reform, recycling and environmental issues, income equity, jobs -- in every sphere, he take a progressive position and tries to rally the troops around it. His positive energy, despite often bleak news in the global / local political, economic and ecological spheres, is... inspiring.
Address; Zip Code
Box 484, Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Raina Whan
Comments
send Joel!
Address; Zip Code
42 fox hollow, rhinebeck, ny 12572
Katelyn Lockhart
Comments
Anyone recommended by Dr. Cornell West has my support.
Address; Zip Code
403 Lindsay Rd, Clemson SC 29631
Kathy Manley
Comments
It would be great to have Joel representing the 20th!
Address; Zip Code
12052
christine ahearn
Comments
Send Joel to Congress
Address; Zip Code
1400 crescent rd apt 518 Clifton Park Ny 12065
Bill and Anne McCabe
Comments
Keep at it, Joel!
Address; Zip Code
81 Darren Rd., LaGrangeville, NY 12540
Megan J Hastie
Comments
Joel is that rare species of political animal---honest, conscientious, hard working, and not for sale to corporate interests. It will be a pleasure to vote for someone who will actually represent me rather than for the lessor of two unpalatable choices, for a change.
Address; Zip Code
96 Station Hill Rd Barrytown, NY 12507
Thomas L Wood
Comments
Yes we can take this seat back
Address; Zip Code
30 Rockrose Way Apt. 125 Malta,N,Y, 12020
James Gescheidle
Comments
Joel for Congress
Address; Zip Code
21 Hilltop Ln Highland NY 12528
Benjamin Giardullo
Comments
A serious, passionate, honest, and intelligent candidate. Elect Joel in 2012!
Address; Zip Code
12508
Dan Rice
Comments
comments
Address; Zip Code
dan rice 74 west notre dame st glens falls, ny 12801
Maya A
Comments
I've known Joel for almost a year now and he is a fighter for the people! He embodies the kind of representatives we need in Congress
Address; Zip Code
12603
dan gray
Comments
Let's beat the tea party
Address; Zip Code
10hollywood Dr burnt hills ny
Gayle Two Eagles
Comments
Sending Joel to Congress
Address; Zip Code
134 Hunter Street, Apt 2 Kingston, NY 12401
Joshua Horton
Comments
Send Joel Tyner to Congress. He won't be a contributor to the mess.
Address; Zip Code
25 Garden Street Hyde Park, NY 12538
Tama Sis Kaya Bell
Comments
Joel Tyner is practically the only politician left in this area that I feel I can trust. While no one is perfect, and the issues are deep, and there are so many and with such diverse problems, we will be hard pressed to find 'perfect' leadership, but I trust Joel Tyner and believe in much of what he is trying to do. I support him!!!
Address; Zip Code
Rev. Tama Sis Kaya Bell 3 Hook Rd Poughkeepsie, NY 12601
Denise Chesna
Comments
We need a man like Joel Tyner in congress who will fight for people.
Address; Zip Code
4 w. mastic blvd, shirley, ny 11967
Bradley Russell
Comments
A strong advocate for good progressive policies.
Address; Zip Code
Albany, NY
Gary Moon
Comments
Joel Tyner would represent a larger proportion of our constituency. It is not necessary to dismiss the needs of the many to serve the needs f the few.
Address; Zip Code
7 Cedar Lane LAKE GEORGE NY 12845
Burr Hubbell
Comments
I've known of Joel and his great work in the Dutchess County legislature for years. Joel is the real deal. He's not just saying this stuff. He doesn't even just believe this stuff. Joel lives this stuff. He walks the walk. He's bright, intelligent, well-informed, a critical thinker keenly aware of his constituents (and in Joel's case that's always People, not Corps) needs and desires. We need people like Joel in office around the country, and there isn't a better office for Joel, than the U.S. Congress. Sign up, pitch in & help out.
Address; Zip Code
PO Box 71, Halcottsville, NY 12438
Melinda McKnight
Comments
Looking forward to electing a progressive, populist voice to fight the corporate cronies.
Address; Zip Code
60 Holland Drive West Hurley, NY 12491
Timothy Scott, Jr.
Comments
Joel has a great record of serving the people of Dutchess County. I know from this record that he is ready to serve the 20th Congressional District to the best of his ability. I look forward to voting for him.
Address; Zip Code
226 Malden Turnpike Saugerties, New York 12477
Trudy Quaif
Comments
If elected, Joel Tyner will represent the people.
Address; Zip Code
9 Westphal Drive, Delmar, NY 12054
Margaret Meehan
Comments
Hoping to get a Democrat back into the 20th... or whatever Congressional number our area ends up with after the redistricting is figured out...
Address; Zip Code
84 Bauer Junior Road Freehold, NY 12431
gerald berke
Comments
Strong support for a man who has strongly supported our community for years!
Address; Zip Code
26 maiden ln kingston, ny 12401
Heather Rolland
Comments
we need Joel!
Address; Zip Code
Olivebridge, NY 12461
Lynne Resch
Comments
We need more progressive representation for the people.
Address; Zip Code
PO Box 104 Bovina Center, NY 13740
Tyler Carelli
Comments
With Hinchey's retirement imminent NY needs people like you
Address; Zip Code
29 VandeBogart Road Woodstock NY 12498
grace van hulsteyn
Comments
Sounds good to me!
Address; Zip Code
364 New Turnpike Rd Cochecton, New York 12726
Tecia Poulas
Comments
There are many reasons I am signing this petition in support of Joel Tyner. One of the primary issues is his stance on fracking. As a citizen who cares about the planet that nourishes us I feel it is so important. And in my profession as a realtor I see how if the gas companies were allowed to take over any part of NY State it would be detrimental on some many reasons for all of us who call NY home.
Address; Zip Code
683 Hurley Ave Hurley, NY 12443
Gloria Waslyn
Comments
Joel has been elected and re-elected and has a demonstrated record of achievement and success in representing the people of our community. Send him to Congress. He has the experience, dedication, integrity and values to both share facts with transparency so we the public can express our voices and intent and he has the courage to speak truth to the power system that may be serving an agenda other than serving the people. He is more than a watchdog. He has tirelessly worked as an active participant on all the meaningful issues! VOTE TYNER!
Address; Zip Code
781 State Route 214 Chichester, NY 12416
Martin Michaels
Comments
Best of luck Joel! You are a true leader of the 99%
Address; Zip Code
P.O. Box 413 Shandaken, N.Y. 12480
Roseann Cane
Comments
Yes, let's send Joel to Congress! All the best to you, Joel.
Address; Zip Code
Philmont, NY 12565
holy nick
Comments
students for joel!
Address; Zip Code
lagrangeville, 12540
eileen treaxy
Comments
Like your ideas. Looking forward to meeting you on Saturday in Andes.
Address; Zip Code
225 White Road PO 1078 Margaretville, NY 12455
Cameron Williams
Comments
Joel is the best candidate!
Address; Zip Code
781 S.R. 214 Chichester, NY 12416-5108
Gloria Forouzan
Comments
I live in "Gasland", PA. Thank you Joel for running and thanks to all of the 'fracktivist friendly' candidates running across the Marcellus states. I urge everyone in your district to support you with their VOTES.
Address; Zip Code
15201
Barbara Sarah
Comments
Joel is the best progressive successor to Maurice Hinchey!
Address; Zip Code
12401
KAYA ISESAJAH
Comments
JOEL for Congress!!! We need REALNESS and TRUTH in our Government, and we trust Joel, that he can and will make changes NOW, that we need.
Address; Zip Code
Big Meadow Lane Poughkeepsie, NY 12601
Joan Tubridy
Comments
Go green, renewable energy for health, jobs, and energy independence. Criminalize fracking.
Address; Zip Code
996 Monroe Road, Delhi, NY 13753
Barbara Kidney
Comments
Why is this field required? I'm simply trying to sign a petition to support Mr Tyner's bid to run as a congressional candidate.
Address; Zip Code
Town of Shawangunk 12566
Nathan Howard
Comments
Go Joel!
Address; Zip Code
703 Cooper Road, Poughkeepsie, NY 12603
Vivian Beatrice
Comments
thank you for stepping up to fill the big important shoes of Maurice Hinchey!!
Address; Zip Code
12477
Norman Rodriguez
Comments
Get Joels ass into congress!
Address; Zip Code
12540
Patrick McGrane
Comments
Joel should be a congress man. Straight up.
Address; Zip Code
27 James st, Poughkeepsie, N.Y. 12603
Estuardo
Comments
A true progressive
Address; Zip Code
12561
Ted Orr
Comments
go joel!
Address; Zip Code
Woodstock, NY 12498
Andrea Reynosa
Comments
Send Joel to Congress!
Address; Zip Code
1724 County Route 23 Narrowsburg, New York 12764
Are you a registered Democrat here in New York State?...
If you are, we need your help NOW-- to collect the minimum 946 petition signatures we need to make sure Team Tyner is on the ballot for the June 26th primary for the new 19th Congressional district!...(call us now at 845-444-0599-- we'll send you blank petitions and walk/drive lists of registered Dems in your area!)...
[we have to bring these up to NYS Board of Elections by Mon. Apr. 16th-- so send what you've collected to us well before then so we can put them all together, organized!]
For eight months now I've been campaigning heavily in Dutchess, Columbia, Greene, Rensselaer, Delaware, and Otsego counties-- and since lines changed in Ulster, Sullivan, Schoharie, Montgomery counties-- new 19th Congressional district...
[note-- you don't necessarily have to live in the 19th c.d. to collect petition signatures from registered Dems in these ten counties listed above-- you just have to be a registered Dem in NYS yourself; download petition (must be on 8 1/2" x 14" paper) at this link-- http://www.joelforcongress.org/node/23 !]
[district maps: https://www.nyed.uscourts.gov/pub/docs/cv/324457/1.11.cv.5632.6729180.2.pdf ;
demographics https://www.nyed.uscourts.gov/pub/docs/cv/324457/1.11.cv.5632.6729180.3.pdf ;
former district lines-- http://www.govtrack.us/congress/findyourreps.xpd?state=NY ]
Aside from over 250 folks listed below (see/sign www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel), our campaign for Congress has been endorsed by Pete Seeger, Cornel West, Josh Fox, Medea Benjamin, Manna Jo Greene, Dutchess County Democratic Elections Commissioner Fran Knapp, Troy Area Labor Council President Mike Keenan, and PEF/DEC anti-fracking engineer Wayne Bayer!...
"I don't think he's [Julian Schreibman] going to emulate too closely the ideals of Maurice Hinchey." [!]
-- new Ulster County Dem Chair Frank Cardinale [at end of March Ulster County Democratic Convention(!)]
Fascinating.....so let me ask you this question about six key core progressive Democratic values:
Do you agree with Rep. Maurice Hinchey that we should save $400 billion a year by expanding Medicare to cover everyone (HVALF agrees), that we should bring back FDR's Glass-Steagall Act to break up the big banks, that our Constitution should be amended to make it clear corporations aren't people (re: Citizens United/SuperPACs), that NAFTA, CAFTA, and free trade agreements with Korea, Colombia, and Panama should never have been passed, that the Fair Elections Now Act should be passed to make real federal version of Maine/Connecticut-style Clean Money Clean Elections campaign finance reform, and that End Excessive Oil Speculation Now legislation should be passed?...
I do; in fact I've felt strongly about those 6 issues for a long time: that Maurice was 100% right on those...
[...long before I decided last summer to throw my hat in the ring to run against GOP Rep. Chris Gibson...]
Well-- if you agree with Maurice and I that Dem candidates for Congress shouldn't shy from those six...
Then at least re: Congressional primary: why not support the candidate keeping Maurice's legacy alive?
[also-- frankly-- Maurice has proven over and over again for decades that his populist, progressive approach to electoral politics is not simply a moral imperative-- but a proven winning message; the same thing I've proven here in Dutchess County-- winning five elections in a row now in my County Legislature seat (in district with GOP town supervisors long in Rhinebeck and Clinton here-- important; people are sick of same old, same old business as usual; want true POPULIST rep in Congress: fact!]
But it's not just those six issues -- if you're just as upset as I am that it's not just Republicans in Washington-- but also too many Democrats-- that don't seem to be really speaking up against the rush to war with Iran...aren't speaking up against fracking...aren't speaking up against Wall Street (to break up big banks, tax Wall Street speculation, and truly investigate those behind destruction of our economy), aren't speaking up against indefinite detention...aren't speaking up against bipartisan attack on Medicare/Medicaid, aren't speaking up for a truly sizable public works/infrastructure jobs program, aren't speaking up for Medicare for all, aren't speaking up to amend our Constitution to make it clear corporations aren't people, aren't speaking up Fair Elections Now legislation (federal version of Clean Money Clean Elections campaign finance reform), aren't speaking up for fair trade (to get us out of job-killing NAFTA/GATT/WTO), aren't speaking up for our troops to come home NOW from Afghanistan, aren't speaking out against tar sands pipeline, aren't speaking up for our Constitutional freedoms-- and aren't speaking up for Bradley Manning-- and aren't speaking up for voting integrity to reject computerized voting machines...(even Michael Moore reminded us all at Left Forum Sat. of this issue)...
[Maurice and Bernie Sanders are retiring, Wellstone has died, and Kucinich and Feingold lost (for now)]
There's something you can do about it all this folks-- let's work, KEEP Maurice's progressive legacy...
[unlike Schreibman, I am unafraid to stand up and protect the winning progressive legacy of Maurice!]
Pass it on...
Joel
845-444-0599/876-2488
joeltyner@earthlink.net
http://www.JoelforCongress.org
[send what $$$ you can-- to Joel for Congress, 324 Browns Pond Road, Staatsburg, NY 12580!]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Join the 250+ below on board Team Tyner-- at www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel!...
Alice Wilbeck
Comments
Run, Joel, Run
Address; Zip Code
Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Maribel Pregnall
Comments
We need you, a person of action! Go Joel!
Address; Zip Code
18 Mt. View, Poughkeepsie, 12603
Joel and Kate Kopp
Comments
You'd be great in Congress.
Address; Zip Code
12572
Robby Long
Comments
I will support your running...Go, Joel, Go!
Address; Zip Code
86 Montgomery, Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Doris Soroko
Comments
Joel Tyner is a tireless worker for the community.
Address; Zip Code
Barrytown, 12507
D. Sommer
Comments
The Power is in You! Follow your dream. It is waiting.
Address; Zip Code
12540
Renee Snyder
Comments
Joel is the epitome of public service. His devotion is beyond compare.
Address; Zip Code
12580
Joan Grishman
Comments
We need your progressive voice in DC.
Address; Zip Code
Hyde Park, NY. 12538
linda Puiatti
Comments
Joel is hard working and I want him to go to congress!
Address; Zip Code
12531
Danny Shanahan
Comments
Hands down the best person for the job.
Address; Zip Code
19 Livingston Street, Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Peter Conklin
Comments
Joel would be far better than Gilliband. Solaman. Sweeny, Gilliband. No difference We need a real progresive like Joel
Address; Zip Code
12538
Steve Greenfield
Comments
I have to have comments? That won't help...
Address; Zip Code
New Paltz, 12561
Joanne Gelb
Comments
Joel will get the right things done
Address; Zip Code
36 Mulberry St. Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Joanne Klein
Comments
Go for it!
Address; Zip Code
PO Box 246, Clinton Corners, NY 12514
Irma Brownfield
Comments
Joel is a tireless worker for progressive causes.
Address; Zip Code
12580
Randi Sackheim
Comments
Joel would be perfect!
Address; Zip Code
103 Deer Hill Road, Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Douglas C. Smyth
Comments
Joel is a hard worker with his heart in the right place.
Address; Zip Code
44 Schultzville Rd., Staatsburg, NY 12580
Kate Watters
Comments
Do it!
Address; Zip Code
Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Frances Sandiford
Comments
I would like to endorse Joel Tyner to be a candidate for the election in the 20th D.C.
Address; Zip Code
Rhinecliff, NY 12574
Margaret Hesher
Comments
Joel is an untiring worker for his constituency. He will be a real asset in Congress.
Address; Zip Code
12578
Melanie Whaley
Comments
good luck Joel
Address; Zip Code
12522
Janet M. Reagon
Comments
Joel has been an effective DC legislator. Let's send him to Congress!
Address; Zip Code
23 Benson Road, Wassaic, NY 12592
Tonia Shoumatoff
Comments
Joel is diligent and pro-active for green initiatives and environmental causes throughout our region. He is a responsive legislator and would be a terrific Congressman.
Address; Zip Code
12592
Susan Gregory
Comments
Thanks to Joel for stepping up!
Address; Zip Code
Amenia NY 12501
Margaret O. Kelland
Comments
Go for it, Joel! This is our best chance in 40 years for the changes we've been working and praying for.
Address; Zip Code
13 Susan Lane, Poughkeepsie, NY 12603
Debbie Downey
Comments
Go for it!
Address; Zip Code
288 Leedsville Rd
Wendy McCarthy
Comments
Good Luck!
Address; Zip Code
106 Davis Rd. Salt Point N.Y. 12578
Thomas Baldino
Comments
Joel Tyner is a hard worker on behalf of his constituents and the environment while coming up with ideas to cut costs.
Address; Zip Code
19 North St., Beacon, NY 12508
Jeff Romano
Comments
joel understands and has demonstrated what being a public servant is all about
Address; Zip Code
88 frost road, rhinebeck, new york
Michael Nickerson
Comments
Run Joel Run!
Address; Zip Code
PO Box 105, 16 Schatzell Ave, Rhinecliff NY 12574
Kathleen V. Augustine
Comments
Go Joel!
Address; Zip Code
104 Prospect Hill Ext. Pine Plains, New York 12567
Jane Curran
Comments
Yes, let's do it!
Address; Zip Code
5 Village Green, Apt.E, Rhinebeck NY 12572
Laurence deSegonzac Levin
Comments
I endorse Joel Tyner for congressman for NY State's 20th district
Address; Zip Code
189 Amenia Union Road, Amenia, N.Y. 12501
Amity Reed
Comments
great!
Address; Zip Code
Elizaville, NY 12523
Matthew Verrilli
Comments
Yes I concur... Joel would be a representative that would allow the people to be the prominent force in politics.
Address; Zip Code
176 River Rd. Rhinebeck NY 12572
Robert Capowski
Comments
Joel will make a great congressman!
Address; Zip Code
2 Willard Road, Red Hook
Joseph P. Calabro MD
Comments
go for it Joel
Address; Zip Code
12601
Christopher Ruhe
Comments
He has my 100\% support
Address; Zip Code
37 Dutchess Terrace, Beacon, NY 12508
Anne McGrath
Comments
Joel has shown incredible stamina in his pursuit of justice and is a trail blazer like no other.
Address; Zip Code
12572
Michael West
Comments
Joel's highly qualified
Address; Zip Code
595 Rte 308 Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Deborah West
Comments
we need a hard working progressive like Joel
Address; Zip Code
595 Rte 308 Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Thomas L. Holsapple
Comments
A good and caring man for the job.
Address; Zip Code
Rhinebeck, NY 12572
katherine menconeri
Comments
yes joel to congress
Address; Zip Code
12514
Glen Burger
Comments
Joel Tyner does his homework and supports policies that allow all citizens of this great nation to live peaceful productive lives.
Address; Zip Code
Creek Road, Staatsburg, NY 12580
Andrea Replansky
Comments
There is no one better to represent our district. Go Joel!
Address; Zip Code
12572
Fred Nagel
Comments
elect a fighter for the public good
Address; Zip Code
12572
James Rosasco
Comments
Joel is a proven, extemely hardworking public servant.
Address; Zip Code
12572
Dana Tompkins
Comments
Joel has been a Bull-Dog in the County Legislature and has been fighting for ordinary people for over 15 years. He is relentless in his pursuit for truth and justice. If you have been waiting for someone who will give you a seat at the table, then help me send Joel Tyner to Congress and give our new President another link in the chain for "Change" that we must all forge together.
Address; Zip Code
73 College Lane Millbrook, NY 12545
Patricia Sewald
Comments
Let's send Joel to Congress!
Address; Zip Code
22 Pond Drive East Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Marcus A. Mello
Comments
Joel Tyner would be a great addition to Congress
Address; Zip Code
62 Arnett St., Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Joanne Engle
Comments
Yes to grassroots democracy!Yes to Joel!
Address; Zip Code
411 Sepasco Center St.Rhinebeck NY12572
kathleen everett
Comments
best of luck, joel...
Address; Zip Code
61 chestnut street rhinebeck 12572
Andrea Novick
Comments
Joel is the hardest worker fighting for the causes we all care about and would represent our district for all the right reasons.
Address; Zip Code
349 Ackert Hook Road Rhinebeck NY 12572
Rosemary Lyons Chase
Comments
I support Joel Tyner for Congress
Address; Zip Code
12567
Mel Eiger
Comments
Will make an excellent representative
Address; Zip Code
242 Attlebury Hill Road, Stanfordville, NY 12581
M. Diana Fantini
Comments
Joel will bring change we need!
Address; Zip Code
12523
Marcia Frahman
Comments
Joel's voice is needed in Congress
Address; Zip Code
19 North St. Beacon NY 12508
cynthia martin
Comments
good luck, we need to keep this area in the democratic party.
Address; Zip Code
clermont, ny 12526
Maretta Callahan
Comments
Please choose Joel to replace Kirsten Gillibrand!
Address; Zip Code
17 Somers Drive Rhinbeck NY 12572
Joseph Cassarino
Comments
Absolutely send Joel to Congress!
Address; Zip Code
6569 Springbrook Ave. Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Doris L. Dingee
Comments
I support Joel Tyner for Congress
Address; Zip Code
32 Pells Rd Rhinebeck NY 12572-33404
Richard Gilbert
Comments
Joel in Congress? The implications for all of us are enormous.
Address; Zip Code
7 Buttonwood Lane, Rhinebeck, 12572
Kathleen Miles
Comments
Joel is the best to send to Congress
Address; Zip Code
12572
Jeanne Stark
Comments
na
Address; Zip Code
12572
Michael Kelly
Comments
Take government back.
Address; Zip Code
Wall St., 12401
Gail A. Burger
Comments
Joel is THE progressive activist in this neck of the woods. He is totally dedicated to this work which most of us just cannot do.
Address; Zip Code
40 S. Creek Rd., Staatsburg NY 12580
Linda A. Manny
Comments
none
Address; Zip Code
16 Pond Drive West, Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Judi Gelardi
Comments
The best "hard worker"
Address; Zip Code
25 Rock City Rd., Milan 12571
Sonia Replansky
Comments
Send Joel to Congress
Address; Zip Code
112 Knollwood Road Rhinebeck NY, 12572
david miller
Comments
Mr. Tyner goes to Washington. Good movie title.
Address; Zip Code
93 east market street, Rhinebeck,12572
Shirley Burroughs
Comments
I support Tyner for Congress
Address; Zip Code
33 Starr Dr, Rhinebeck, NY 12572
John Fitzpatrick
Comments
Joel is a good match for our District and the House of Representatives.
Address; Zip Code
3 Village Green, Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Doreen Tignanelli
Comments
Armed with the facts, Joel will work tirelessly to improve the lives of middle and low income people in the 20th district.
Address; Zip Code
29 Colburn Drive Poughkeepsie NY 12603
Margaret L. Crawford
Comments
I know few polititians who so tirelessly standup for the issues he believes in even when the tide runs against him. He holds our interest and those of our children and the world above his own. I am sure he will carry this same determination and selfless quality to Washington if he were to replace Kirsten Gillibrand as our Congress person.
Address; Zip Code
37 Red Tail Rd. Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Jim Beretta
Comments
Joel puts community service first
Address; Zip Code
29 Colburn Drive Pok NY
alyssa kogon
Comments
As chair of the Town of Clinton Democrats, I firmly believe Joel Tyner is the best person for this job.
Address; Zip Code
7 Stonehouse Road Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Patricia Byron
Comments
I believe Joel will make a dynamic, compassionate Congressman.
Address; Zip Code
97 East Market Street, Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Joe Seeman
Comments
I wish all candidates were this solidly progressive
Address; Zip Code
12020
Thomas Midgley
Comments
Tyner would serve admirably as a man of the people, not as a puppet of monied interests.
Address; Zip Code
12601
Ariella Jaffe
Comments
vote for joel!
Address; Zip Code
556 Rt 199 Red Hook NY 12571
Sharon Rushton
Comments
Joel will make a wonderful congressman. He knows what he is talking about on ANY issue he is requested to investigate or advocate for. THE REAL DEAL is JOEL!
Address; Zip Code
12 Oak St, Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Edwin Pell
Comments
at last a democrat running for the democrat nomination
Address; Zip Code
Rhinebeck, New York, 12572
Roger D Russell
Comments
I support Joel Tyner
Address; Zip Code
13 Lango Rd, Amenia, NY 12501
Leland Lakritz
Comments
Your agenda is great. Power to the people!
Address; Zip Code
6 Tudor St, clifton Park, NY 12065
James Fulmer
Comments
I think Joel would work on implementing the legislation Obama needs in order to have an effective administration.
Address; Zip Code
104 Van Dam St Saratoga Springs NY 12866
creek iversen
Comments
No other local politician works harder in all the best directions for our county
Address; Zip Code
221 stonykill rd; wappingers falls, ny 12590
russ Austin
Comments
Joel has served us well in the county legislature and I think he would be an outstanding Congressman.
Address; Zip Code
12572
ilana nilsen
Comments
Joel bothers to find out what other communities are doing to improve our local world and will invariably do the same at higher levels. Transparent governemnt - that's Joel
Address; Zip Code
Verbank, 12585
Michael Cerrato
Comments
A good neighbor. Selfless in his pursuit.
Address; Zip Code
257 Browns Pond Road, Staatsburg, NY 12580
Roberta Schiff
Comments
Joel keeps us informed and moves us to act.
Address; Zip Code
12572
ward m.stanley
Comments
yes
Address; Zip Code
32 s. parsonage rhinebeck,ny 12572
Linda Stanley
Comments
I know that you can represent our whole district as well as you have our local district
Address; Zip Code
32 S. Parsonage St. Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Mark Dunlea
Comments
go green
Address; Zip Code
156 Big Toad Way, Poestenkill NY 12140
Anthony Henry Smith
Comments
It is without hesitation or reservation that I recommend your favorable consideration of Joel Tyner for any political office he chooses to seek. Tyner excels in all the skill sets necessary for a long and productive career in representative government, including skills applicable to the arts of memory, focus, communication, ethics, synthesis, and visionary leadership. His efforts to advance the quality of our political process as well as his efforts to improve the quality of our support for one another within all aspects of our commonweal are noteworthy and commendable. I am at your service should you require further information regarding this candidate: e-mail: ahsfolkapl@aol.com
Address; Zip Code
12601
Sheryl Griffith
Comments
Joel Tyner works constantly to inform the public and address our concerns - he's an experienced and effective legislator
Address; Zip Code
227 Linden Ave, Red Hook, NY 12571
virginia grab
Comments
I support Joel Tyner as a candidate for this office
Address; Zip Code
74 montgomery st, tivoli, ny 12583
Marilyn Unger
Comments
go Joel!
Address; Zip Code
245 Bog Hollow Rd., Wassaic, 12592
Kevin Rheden, Rhinebeck Village Trustee
Comments
With my full support and endorsement
Address; Zip Code
10 Gardern St. #3 Rhinebeck, N.Y. 12572
Miani Carnevale
Comments
Good timing
Address; Zip Code
556 Schultzville Road, Clinton Corners, NY 12514
Stephen Schultz
Comments
Joel Tyner is much better than Gillebrand ever was
Address; Zip Code
12580
Stuart K. Gilbert
Comments
I am in favor of your many efforts to save energy.
Address; Zip Code
37 North Loop, Rhinebeck N.Y, 12572
Conor Boylan
Comments
Good luck Joel!
Address; Zip Code
Seattle, 98116
Judy Malstrom
Comments
Joel is a fearless, hard-working public servant and more than deserves to be considered for a Congressional seat.
Address; Zip Code
324 Browns Pond Road Staatsburg, NY 12580
Patricia Carroll-Mathes
Comments
We need a progressive candidate and what better than a community organizer!
Address; Zip Code
66 South Street,Rhinebeck 12572
Gail Hermosilla
Comments
Joel Tyner is synonymous with integrity. I have watched him in action for many years (at least 15) and am thrilled at his well-earned success.
Address; Zip Code
43 Depot Hill Rd, Amenia, NY 12501
Dick Crenson
Comments
Joel Tyner is a super dedicated representative.
Address; Zip Code
26 Carter Rd. Pleasant Valley, NY 12569
Address; Zip Code
Rhinebeck
Patricia Zolnik
Comments
Joel will fight tirelessly for Main Street. Go Joel
Address; Zip Code
93 Deer Ridge Drive, Staatsburg, NY 12580
Valerie Carlisle
Comments
Joel Tyner is an excellent choice.
Address; Zip Code
83 Mountain Road, Pleasant Valley, NY 12560
Miranda Parry
Comments
Joel Tyner would represent the needs of the voters of this district!
Address; Zip Code
50 Oak Street, Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Scott Patrick Humphrey
Comments
Joel is a tireless adovcate for working families and works constantly to keep people informed about the issues that matter most in their daily lives. Please support his campaign.
Address; Zip Code
12601
Eyad Alkurabi
Comments
Very good.
Address; Zip Code
748 Carlton Rd.
chris knoeppel
Comments
joel is a true fighter for the people...he knows the issues, and has surefire ways to solve the problems facing new yorkers. two thumbs way up for joel tyner!!
Address; Zip Code
63 broadway hopewell jct, n.y. 12533
Andrew Sheppard
Comments
Go Joel!
Address; Zip Code
22 kelly street Rhinecliff NY 12574
Richard R Carlson
Comments
Joel has the vision[a better world is possible] the passion, the drive to make positive change,where needed.
Address; Zip Code
3 Bowdoin Ln.
Alison Francis
Comments
We need someone in Congress who has the courage to speak up for the working class, who is currently getting bashed--someone who is willing to fight for a fair tax structure.
Address; Zip Code
115 Hunns Lake Rd. Bangall, NY 12506
Jessica Stapf
Comments
Good luck, Joel!
Address; Zip Code
149 County Route 7, Pine Plains, NY 12567
Johan Gilbert
Comments
We should all do more than just sign this petition to help Joel, one of the most committed, tireless, experienced public servants I've ever seen get elected to a position where he can do even more.
Address; Zip Code
PO Box 321 Tivoli, NY 12583
Doris Kelly
Comments
Dutchess County knows where your heart is. We need representatives who care about the people.
Address; Zip Code
7 Susan Court
Matt Rosenberg
Comments
Go Joel!
Address; Zip Code
12574
Toby Stover
Comments
I support Joel for Congress & applaud his courage & insight
Address; Zip Code
12440
Samantha Moriah Kent
Comments
Send Joel to Congress!!
Address; Zip Code
12188
joseph severance
Comments
best of luck
Address; Zip Code
58 john st rensselaer, ny 12144
Gerard Lyons
Comments
Vote for Joel he will make change
Address; Zip Code
12528
William A. Meier
Address; Zip Code
12037
Sharon McFarlane
Comments
yes!
Address; Zip Code
6 Newington Avenue, Gansevoort, NY 12831
Burr Hubbell
Comments
Run for real change, Joel.
Address; Zip Code
37 Gristmill Lane
karen rieser
Comments
please accept this petition
Address; Zip Code
322 union st, hudson 12534
Rosemarie D. Amendolia
Comments
I want Joel Tyner for 20th District Rep., not Gibson
Address; Zip Code
12822
Judith Shub
Comments
Nominating Joel Tyner
Address; Zip Code
12075
Steven L. Essig
Comments
good luck
Address; Zip Code
12047
Judith Tully
Comments
Joel, you're needed in Washington!
Address; Zip Code
12804
Linda Russell
Comments
good luck
Address; Zip Code
55 Via Da Vinci, Clifton Park, NY 12065
Christopher Holcomb
Comments
I support this men over Chris Gibson, to run for congress.
Address; Zip Code
22 Sand Street, 12209
Darren Skotnes
Comments
With the debt crisis looming, we need to elect Joel to fix New York's economy.
Address; Zip Code
12054
Tamar Freund
Comments
the time has passed for "business as usual"
Address; Zip Code
12832
Tom Robinson
Comments
We the people of the 20th District deserve real representation. Send Joel to Congress!
Address; Zip Code
12831
Adam
Comments
Indeed
Address; Zip Code
78 North Lake Ave, Troy, NY, 12180
Tanya Domi
Comments
Send Joel to Congress
Address; Zip Code
10471
Chris DiFrancesco
Comments
Despite the volume and formatting of Joel's positions, he's usually right on all of them. I'd be honored to have him as my Congressman.
Address; Zip Code
2462 Salt POint Turnpike, Clinton Corners, NY 12514
Eric Somers
Comments
We need a progressive like Joel to represent us.
Address; Zip Code
160 Academy St. #5m 12601
Edward Kornbluh
Comments
Go Joel go! Boehner and Gibson are tied at the hip
Address; Zip Code
12156
Michelle Richardson
Comments
Tyner for 20 in '12!
Address; Zip Code
12174
Zachary Pappalau
Comments
this Petiton should be passed!!!
Address; Zip Code
41 southbury rd 12065
Rhonda Granger
Comments
Yes!!! someone who will represent the PEOPLE of the 20th CD and not a Faso puppet.!
Address; Zip Code
12173
Elfrieda labrie
Comments
20th back to dem.
Address; Zip Code
123 Schoolhouse Rd, Stuyvesant, NY 12183
gregory gallina
Comments
Joel has the energy and smarts to move our district into the future, Gibson has the Tea Party ideology to move us back to 1870.
Address; Zip Code
159 Beaver Road Red Hook, NY,12571
Pam Krimsky
Comments
Joel Tyner has integrity
Address; Zip Code
419 N Riverside Rd, Highland, NY, 12528
Gloria Wassell
Comments
Joel Tyner brings integrity and equality to everything he does. He works tirelessly and does extensive research to get the facts so that the public can make informed decisions about issues affecting their rights and their lives. He fights to pass legislation to protect people's rights and our environment. Joel educates the public by generously disseminating information about important issues and encouraging citizens to let their voice be heard. It's rare to find anyone with such dedication who gives selflessly to improve the livelihood and well-being of others. We need more people like Joel Tyner! Joel for Congress!!!
Address; Zip Code
12522
Josh
Comments
I support good Dems running for office and certainly to take back NY-20 from the GOP
Address; Zip Code
11215
Jack R. Lebowitz
Comments
Heard Joel speak yesterday in Saratoga Springs, he will make a great candidate and Representative
Address; Zip Code
Queensbury, NY 12804
Beth Rosenthal
Comments
you have my support
Address; Zip Code
13320
Jason Bates
Comments
I stand in agreement of this petition.
Address; Zip Code
209 Jay Street, Bsmt Apt, Albany, NY, 12210
jasmine shea
Comments
good luck
Address; Zip Code
45 parkwood drive 12205
Beth A. Taylor
Comments
moving to district soon. very interested in Joel's campaign
Address; Zip Code
12401
Annie Friedman
Comments
You definitely have my support
Address; Zip Code
12065
Larry Friedman
Comments
You are the perfect choice
Address; Zip Code
12065
Thomas Carpenter
Comments
We need new progressive representation. I've heard Joel doing interviews on the radio and he could be the guy!!
Address; Zip Code
116 Mt House Rd.,Palenville, NY 12463
Enid Futterman
Comments
Tyner is the real thing.
Address; Zip Code
12521
Andy Levitan
Comments
Joel would be a good representative
Address; Zip Code
3405 Chelsea Cove, Hopewell Junction, NY 12533
Mark Markiewicz
Comments
We need more Progresives to take back this country and counter the tea party.
Address; Zip Code
62 Pine Ridge II, Clifton Park MY 12065
Tom Conroy
Comments
I support Joel fully
Address; Zip Code
53 Spring Street Beacon NY 12508
Gail DiBennardo
Comments
Joel would be an excellent person to represent me.
Address; Zip Code
83 Mountain Road, Pleasant Valley NY 12569
Anne Hemenway
Comments
Joel Tyner for US Congress !
Address; Zip Code
12572
Shaun Chesley
Comments
Joel for Congress
Address; Zip Code
12601
Martin Baumgold
Comments
I will vote for Joel!
Address; Zip Code
205 Rt 16, Claverack, NY 12613
Andrew
Comments
Aside from political affiliations Joel upholds simple principles of democracy through his actions. This is what we all know to be a positive characteristic of an individual hired by us to represent us. This is why I have signed this petition.
Address; Zip Code
12581
Bob Elmendorf
Comments
I heard Joel speak in Albany. Joel has the personality, intelligence and the platform to win. He is what our district needs and they will come to realize it in the next few months. He is for all the right things that have been supported by moveon.org and that have to happen to take our country out of its moral and economic paralysis. Yes to tax the rich and the corporations, yes to preserving social net FDR established who was from our district! No to the wars. I support Joel 100\%.
Address; Zip Code
524 Shaker Museum Road, Malden Bridge, NY 12115
Leslie Gabriel
Comments
Go Joel !!!
Address; Zip Code
15 Schutts Road, PO Box 220, Hillsdale, NY 12529
Jean Collins
Comments
The will of the people is very important and the people want Joel Tyner!
Address; Zip Code
12477
Stephen Callahan
Comments
Joel has my vote for Congress !!!
Address; Zip Code
12571
sarah sweeny
Comments
Thanks for your courage, Joel Tyner - We need real democracy in this country, & to stop the special interests from destroying it.
Address; Zip Code
12583
Susan Holland
Comments
Maurice Hinchey & Dennis Kucinich need some company - it's time to send Joel Tyner to Congress, people!
Address; Zip Code
243 Union Center Road, Ulster Park, NY 12487
Wayne E. Carey
Comments
I support Mr. Joel Tyner in his efforts to win election to congress
Address; Zip Code
1637 Blue Hill Rd. Germantown, NY. 12526
lucy swenson
Comments
we need people like Joel in Congress to put health before wealth
Address; Zip Code
12463
Delia Mellis
Comments
Go Joel!
Address; Zip Code
12574
Kathleen Bartholomay
Comments
Thank god someone is running against Gibson!
Address; Zip Code
5288 County Route 113 Greenwich NY 12834
Scott McDonald
Comments
We need representatives who truly represent the people's interests. Thats why we need to elect Joel.
Address; Zip Code
6453 Montgomery Street, Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Karen Azer
Comments
We need to remove Chris Gibson!
Address; Zip Code
7 Mohawk Road, 12845
Larry Lampman
Comments
I strongly support this petition
Address; Zip Code
12503
Chris Merando
Comments
I strongly support Joel Tyner for Congress. He has always supported the people rather than special interests.
Address; Zip Code
64 S. Remsen Ave., Wappingers Falls, NY 12590
James Paul
Comments
He's the one we need
Address; Zip Code
12502
Larry Andreassen
Comments
You ARE a genius!
Address; Zip Code
56 yankee Folly Rd., New Paltz, N.Y. 12561
jeff region
Comments
H's the right man for the job!!
Address; Zip Code
12580
Marc Osterweil
Comments
Your candidacy would give us a real choice for a change.
Address; Zip Code
Margaretville, NY 12455
Jodiah Jacobs
Comments
I will do everything I can for Joel Tyner, he is our guy. He cares about the people, the working people.
Address; Zip Code
12571
Connie Coker, Rockland County Legislator
Comments
I don't live in the district but Joel Tyner would represent my values in Congress.
Address; Zip Code
87 Depot Pl., Nyack, NY 10960
Rachel Gorman
Comments
I support Joel Tyner!
Address; Zip Code
Box 1230, Vassar College, 124 Raymond Avenue Poughkeepsie, NY 12604
Joe Laux
Comments
As the former State Vice Chair of the Liberal Party, and Board member of the Capital District Gay and Lesbian Community Council, I think having Joel as an alternative to the Republican corporate owned Congressperson from this district will give the voters a clear choice; 2 more years of corporate greed and a Congress that is responsive to the wealthiest 1% only, or a Member of Congress who puts people before profit, integrity before sellout, and tolerance before injustice. We NEED Joel tyner in Congress!
Address; Zip Code
2041 River Road, West Coxsackie, NY 12192
brandon Hakulin
Comments
I support your run for Congress.
Address; Zip Code
8 rolling brook court, clifton park, ny 12065
scott eckert
Comments
Go get 'em!
Address; Zip Code
68 Livingston St. Rhinebeck, Ny 12572
Rachel Collins Kelly
Comments
Joel Tyner for Congress!
Address; Zip Code
18 Beach Rd., Copake, NY 12516
Rebecca Crawford
Comments
<3 Supporting and Solidarity!!!
Address; Zip Code
1 LongMeadow Drive Mechanicville, N.Y. 12118
Ben Alden
Comments
f
Address; Zip Code
12804
suzanne c curran
Comments
we need someone like joel he is honest and hard working and is a real person if you need help with your campain im still at 6 anderson school rd
Address; Zip Code
6 anderson school rd apt 105 staatsburg new york
Brian Reid
Comments
go Joel
Address; Zip Code
red hook, NY 12571
shirley ripullone
Comments
good luck
Address; Zip Code
07481
Elizabeth Novoa
Comments
none
Address; Zip Code
12603
Linda P. Strangio
Comments
I sign this Petiton in the belief you are a man of your word and that you have an outstanding history of dedicated work on the behalf of the people you represent. I wish you every success. However, in light of recent events, I no longer have faith in our current President. I would vote for Ralph Nader should he run again. He is a man of the people and for the people. He is a man I can have faith in. Buckle up American because we are in for a very bumpy ride! Peace
Address; Zip Code
5 Gage Avenue Glens Falls, NY 12801
Andrew Papula
Comments
We are the 99%
Address; Zip Code
1498 Rt. 55 Lagrangeville,NY 12540
Doug Sealy
Comments
We have got to get rid of Chris Gibson. He's just a tool of the right.
Address; Zip Code
409 Ridge Road Queensbury, NY 12804
Steve Wickham
Comments
My family lives in this district and they need a representative like Joel. Someone who will put the People first.
Address; Zip Code
233 Executive Dr Guilderland, NY 12084
Scott Redden
Comments
I support Joel in his bid against Gibson for congressional office.
Address; Zip Code
89 Columbia Street, Albany NY, 12210
Stephen Moss
Comments
Joel Tyner believes in Constitutional values, and votes accordingly. He is actively engaged with the community every single day, and listens and responds to virtually every persons comments or concerns.
Address; Zip Code
Maple St. Glens Falls, NY 12801
Ethan Watters
Comments
Best of luck Joel
Address; Zip Code
32507
Fred Nagel
Comments
Reform both parties. Occupy the corrupt political system.
Address; Zip Code
8 Clay Ct. Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Marcia Slatkin
Comments
Joel is tireless in his fight for justice in all areas: education, jail reform, recycling and environmental issues, income equity, jobs -- in every sphere, he take a progressive position and tries to rally the troops around it. His positive energy, despite often bleak news in the global / local political, economic and ecological spheres, is... inspiring.
Address; Zip Code
Box 484, Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Raina Whan
Comments
send Joel!
Address; Zip Code
42 fox hollow, rhinebeck, ny 12572
Katelyn Lockhart
Comments
Anyone recommended by Dr. Cornell West has my support.
Address; Zip Code
403 Lindsay Rd, Clemson SC 29631
Kathy Manley
Comments
It would be great to have Joel representing the 20th!
Address; Zip Code
12052
christine ahearn
Comments
Send Joel to Congress
Address; Zip Code
1400 crescent rd apt 518 Clifton Park Ny 12065
Bill and Anne McCabe
Comments
Keep at it, Joel!
Address; Zip Code
81 Darren Rd., LaGrangeville, NY 12540
Megan J Hastie
Comments
Joel is that rare species of political animal---honest, conscientious, hard working, and not for sale to corporate interests. It will be a pleasure to vote for someone who will actually represent me rather than for the lessor of two unpalatable choices, for a change.
Address; Zip Code
96 Station Hill Rd Barrytown, NY 12507
Thomas L Wood
Comments
Yes we can take this seat back
Address; Zip Code
30 Rockrose Way Apt. 125 Malta,N,Y, 12020
James Gescheidle
Comments
Joel for Congress
Address; Zip Code
21 Hilltop Ln Highland NY 12528
Benjamin Giardullo
Comments
A serious, passionate, honest, and intelligent candidate. Elect Joel in 2012!
Address; Zip Code
12508
Dan Rice
Comments
comments
Address; Zip Code
dan rice 74 west notre dame st glens falls, ny 12801
Maya A
Comments
I've known Joel for almost a year now and he is a fighter for the people! He embodies the kind of representatives we need in Congress
Address; Zip Code
12603
dan gray
Comments
Let's beat the tea party
Address; Zip Code
10hollywood Dr burnt hills ny
Gayle Two Eagles
Comments
Sending Joel to Congress
Address; Zip Code
134 Hunter Street, Apt 2 Kingston, NY 12401
Joshua Horton
Comments
Send Joel Tyner to Congress. He won't be a contributor to the mess.
Address; Zip Code
25 Garden Street Hyde Park, NY 12538
Tama Sis Kaya Bell
Comments
Joel Tyner is practically the only politician left in this area that I feel I can trust. While no one is perfect, and the issues are deep, and there are so many and with such diverse problems, we will be hard pressed to find 'perfect' leadership, but I trust Joel Tyner and believe in much of what he is trying to do. I support him!!!
Address; Zip Code
Rev. Tama Sis Kaya Bell 3 Hook Rd Poughkeepsie, NY 12601
Denise Chesna
Comments
We need a man like Joel Tyner in congress who will fight for people.
Address; Zip Code
4 w. mastic blvd, shirley, ny 11967
Bradley Russell
Comments
A strong advocate for good progressive policies.
Address; Zip Code
Albany, NY
Gary Moon
Comments
Joel Tyner would represent a larger proportion of our constituency. It is not necessary to dismiss the needs of the many to serve the needs f the few.
Address; Zip Code
7 Cedar Lane LAKE GEORGE NY 12845
Burr Hubbell
Comments
I've known of Joel and his great work in the Dutchess County legislature for years. Joel is the real deal. He's not just saying this stuff. He doesn't even just believe this stuff. Joel lives this stuff. He walks the walk. He's bright, intelligent, well-informed, a critical thinker keenly aware of his constituents (and in Joel's case that's always People, not Corps) needs and desires. We need people like Joel in office around the country, and there isn't a better office for Joel, than the U.S. Congress. Sign up, pitch in & help out.
Address; Zip Code
PO Box 71, Halcottsville, NY 12438
Melinda McKnight
Comments
Looking forward to electing a progressive, populist voice to fight the corporate cronies.
Address; Zip Code
60 Holland Drive West Hurley, NY 12491
Timothy Scott, Jr.
Comments
Joel has a great record of serving the people of Dutchess County. I know from this record that he is ready to serve the 20th Congressional District to the best of his ability. I look forward to voting for him.
Address; Zip Code
226 Malden Turnpike Saugerties, New York 12477
Trudy Quaif
Comments
If elected, Joel Tyner will represent the people.
Address; Zip Code
9 Westphal Drive, Delmar, NY 12054
Margaret Meehan
Comments
Hoping to get a Democrat back into the 20th... or whatever Congressional number our area ends up with after the redistricting is figured out...
Address; Zip Code
84 Bauer Junior Road Freehold, NY 12431
gerald berke
Comments
Strong support for a man who has strongly supported our community for years!
Address; Zip Code
26 maiden ln kingston, ny 12401
Heather Rolland
Comments
we need Joel!
Address; Zip Code
Olivebridge, NY 12461
Lynne Resch
Comments
We need more progressive representation for the people.
Address; Zip Code
PO Box 104 Bovina Center, NY 13740
Tyler Carelli
Comments
With Hinchey's retirement imminent NY needs people like you
Address; Zip Code
29 VandeBogart Road Woodstock NY 12498
grace van hulsteyn
Comments
Sounds good to me!
Address; Zip Code
364 New Turnpike Rd Cochecton, New York 12726
Tecia Poulas
Comments
There are many reasons I am signing this petition in support of Joel Tyner. One of the primary issues is his stance on fracking. As a citizen who cares about the planet that nourishes us I feel it is so important. And in my profession as a realtor I see how if the gas companies were allowed to take over any part of NY State it would be detrimental on some many reasons for all of us who call NY home.
Address; Zip Code
683 Hurley Ave Hurley, NY 12443
Gloria Waslyn
Comments
Joel has been elected and re-elected and has a demonstrated record of achievement and success in representing the people of our community. Send him to Congress. He has the experience, dedication, integrity and values to both share facts with transparency so we the public can express our voices and intent and he has the courage to speak truth to the power system that may be serving an agenda other than serving the people. He is more than a watchdog. He has tirelessly worked as an active participant on all the meaningful issues! VOTE TYNER!
Address; Zip Code
781 State Route 214 Chichester, NY 12416
Martin Michaels
Comments
Best of luck Joel! You are a true leader of the 99%
Address; Zip Code
P.O. Box 413 Shandaken, N.Y. 12480
Roseann Cane
Comments
Yes, let's send Joel to Congress! All the best to you, Joel.
Address; Zip Code
Philmont, NY 12565
holy nick
Comments
students for joel!
Address; Zip Code
lagrangeville, 12540
eileen treaxy
Comments
Like your ideas. Looking forward to meeting you on Saturday in Andes.
Address; Zip Code
225 White Road PO 1078 Margaretville, NY 12455
Cameron Williams
Comments
Joel is the best candidate!
Address; Zip Code
781 S.R. 214 Chichester, NY 12416-5108
Gloria Forouzan
Comments
I live in "Gasland", PA. Thank you Joel for running and thanks to all of the 'fracktivist friendly' candidates running across the Marcellus states. I urge everyone in your district to support you with their VOTES.
Address; Zip Code
15201
Barbara Sarah
Comments
Joel is the best progressive successor to Maurice Hinchey!
Address; Zip Code
12401
KAYA ISESAJAH
Comments
JOEL for Congress!!! We need REALNESS and TRUTH in our Government, and we trust Joel, that he can and will make changes NOW, that we need.
Address; Zip Code
Big Meadow Lane Poughkeepsie, NY 12601
Joan Tubridy
Comments
Go green, renewable energy for health, jobs, and energy independence. Criminalize fracking.
Address; Zip Code
996 Monroe Road, Delhi, NY 13753
Barbara Kidney
Comments
Why is this field required? I'm simply trying to sign a petition to support Mr Tyner's bid to run as a congressional candidate.
Address; Zip Code
Town of Shawangunk 12566
Nathan Howard
Comments
Go Joel!
Address; Zip Code
703 Cooper Road, Poughkeepsie, NY 12603
Vivian Beatrice
Comments
thank you for stepping up to fill the big important shoes of Maurice Hinchey!!
Address; Zip Code
12477
Norman Rodriguez
Comments
Get Joels ass into congress!
Address; Zip Code
12540
Patrick McGrane
Comments
Joel should be a congress man. Straight up.
Address; Zip Code
27 James st, Poughkeepsie, N.Y. 12603
Estuardo
Comments
A true progressive
Address; Zip Code
12561
Ted Orr
Comments
go joel!
Address; Zip Code
Woodstock, NY 12498
Andrea Reynosa
Comments
Send Joel to Congress!
Address; Zip Code
1724 County Route 23 Narrowsburg, New York 12764
remember Trayvon Martin-- with Civilian Review Boards for Dutchess police/sheriff departments (think globally, act locally!)...
Hi all...
Email 25 of us at countylegislators@co.dutchess.ny.us-- four ways
here Dutchess could honor Trayvon Martin(!):
[scroll down for full text of new resolution I submitted early this
morning to our County Legislature's offices-- and put Mon. Apr. 16th
7 pm on your calendars-- come out to speak up that night at our County
Legislature's full board meeting-- on the sixth floor of our County
Office Building at 22 Market Street in Poughkeepsie; numbers count!]
1. Co-host a public forum with the Dutchess County Sheriff's office
and local law enforcement agencies on the issue of racial profiling
to allow members of local communities to freely and publicly
questions of the Dutchess County Sheriff's office and other local law
enforcement agencies.
[see: http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/projects/prison/po111500s2.shtml ]
2. Request that the Dutchess County Criminal Justice Council evaluate
the cost and feasibility of creating an independent civilian review
board with investigatory and subpoena power for complaints regarding
the Dutchess County Jail and Dutchess County Sheriff's Department.
[see: Police Assessment Resource Center-- http://www.PARC.info --
100+ civilian review boards in U.S.]
3. Requests that the Dutchess County Sheriff's Department be present
and on the agenda for the next Public Safety Committee meeting to
discuss issues recently raised about Tasers in the Poughkeepsie
Journal.
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20120325/OPINION01/303250062/Taser-use-must-regulated-reported
4. Call on Florida's 18th District State's Attorney to prosecute
George Zimmerman, and that Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee should be
removed from office, as called for by the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People.
[see: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/03/22-3 ;
http://www.thenation.com/article/166887/justice-trayvon-martin ]
Long-time City of Poughkeepsie community activist Mae Parker-Harris and Dutchess County Legislator Joel Tyner (D-Clinton/Rhinebeck), cofounders of the Real Majority Project, have organized a Rally for Justice for Trayvon Martin today (Sat.) Mar. 31st at noon at Earline Patrice at Mansion Square Park in the City of Poughkeepsie (between Clinton and Hamilton streets on Mansion Street).
Kudos to Mae Parker-Harris, Rev. Tama Bell, and all who came out today to the inspirational first of a series of weekly Rallies for Justice for Trayvon Martin (every Saturday-- noon at Earline Patrice at Mansion Square Park in Poughkeepsie)-- speakers/attendees included Rev. Dr. H. Dwight Bolton (of Smith Metropolitan A.M.E. Zion Church), Rev. Walter LeFlore (Unitarian Universalist Fellowship), Rev. Blake Rider (Christ Episcopal Church), City of Poughkeepsie Council Chair Gwen Johnson, City of Poughkeepsie Fifth Ward Councilwoman Ann Perry, and long-time community activists Judy Green and Marta Knapp, Tron Melton, Margaret White, Blair Goodman (of Working Families Party and Occupy Poughkeepsie), Pat Lamanna, Barbara Lindsey, Fred and Alice Bunnell, Jeff Green, Spencer Resnick (of Vassar RebuildtheDream.com), and many others from Occupy Poughkeepsie-- Stephen Greiner, Pat Quinn, Kyle Van Steenburgh, Brady Massey, Russell Bimbo, Rebecca DeLaCruz of DCC Political Science Club, tons more!...
Fact: Even our county's own Human Rights Commission has received dozens of complaints about various police departments and our criminal justice system over the past few years alone (according to official county government records/documents from DCHRC).
[recall blog post from this past Oct. 11th on this; thx to Steve Meddaugh's efforts:
http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2011/10/rally-with-ann-perry-mae-parker-harris.html ]
Pass it on!...
Joel
845-444-0599/876-2488
joeltyner@earthlink.net
http://www.JoelforCongress.org
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel (238 on board!)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[again-- re: new resolution below from yours truly; email
countylegislators@co.dutchess.ny.us now!]
WHEREAS, on February 26th this year 17-year-old Trayvon Martin walked to a convenience store in Sanford, Florida; on his way home, with his
Skittles and iced tea, the African-American teenager was shot and
killed; the gunman, George Zimmerman, didn't run, claiming he killed
the young man in self-defense; the Sanford Police agreed, let him go;
witnesses have spoken up, 911 calls released, outrage gone global, and
WHEREAS, there are over 100 counties/cities in U.S. with civilian
review boards for jails or sheriff/police departments, including New
York City, St. Paul, Seattle, San Diego, Los Angeles, and San
Francisco, and
WHEREAS, the Poughkeepsie Journal has reported that in Dutchess
County, though African Americans constitute just 10% of the
population, 52% of all those sentenced in Dutchess County are African
American, and another 11% are other minorities; just 37% are white,
even though whites make up 80% of the county population; 67% of all
felony drug arrests have been of blacks, though African Americans
were only 10% of the general population; moreover, blacks are 85% of
all people serving prison sentences for drug crimes from Dutchess
(highest in NY); Dutchess ranked eighth statewide in the combined
percentage of blacks and Hispanics incarcerated for drug crimes, with
92 percent of drug sentences being served by minorities, and
WHEREAS, the Poughkeepsie Journal reported this year that Taser use
has more than tripled from 2006 to 2010 at police agencies in the
mid-Hudson region and that "the Dutchess County Sheriff's Office has
50 Tasers, and almost every patrol officer carries one; yet a single
deputy accounted for a quarter of the department's stun-gun uses
since 2005"; as the Poughkeepsie Journal editorialized March 24th,
"police agencies aren't required to report stun-gun use or related
deaths to state overseers; they should be," and
WHEREAS, according to the Poughkeepsie Journal, "Tasers have been
used when people merely fail to follow orders, such as a woman
stunned twice after she 'folded her arms and refused to be cuffed';
this situation likely could have been handled with a lesser degree of
force; in at least three dozen cases, people were stunned when
running away (and sometimes walking) from minor crimes or for
refusing to follow orders"; as the Poughkeepsie Journal reported in
February, "among Taser cases of City of Poughkeepsie police, blacks
comprised 61 percent of stun-gun subjects, and a 2011 study by the
NYCLU also found disproportionate use of stun guns on minorities, the
phenomenon 'echoes consistent and disturbing practices of
over-policing in communities of color,' the study said," and
RESOLVED, that the Dutchess County Legislature do these four things
to restore true criminal justice:
1. Co-host a public forum with the Dutchess County Sheriff's office
and local law enforcement agencies on the issue of racial profiling
to allow members of local communities to freely and publicly
questions of the Dutchess County Sheriff's office and other local law
enforcement agencies;
2. Requests that the Dutchess County Criminal Justice Council
evaluate the cost and feasibility of creating an independent civilian
review board with investigatory and subpoena power for complaints
regarding the Dutchess County Jail and Dutchess County Sheriff's
Department;
3. Requests that the Dutchess County Sheriff's Department be present
and on the agenda for the next Public Safety Committee meeting to
discuss issues recently raised about Tasers in the Poughkeepsie
Journal; and
4. Calls on Florida's 18th District State's Attorney to prosecute
George Zimmerman, and that Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee should be
removed from office, as called for by the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People; and be it further
RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be sent to all of the
appropriate entities mentioned here above.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
More supporting documentation:
"The New Jim Crow: Lecture Series and Community Read on Issues of
Race and Imprisonment in the United States" (Occupy Poughkeepsie post
3/07/2012 re: programs at Family Partnership Center)
http://occupypoughkeepsie.org/articles/new-jim-crow-lecture-series-and-community-read-issues-race-and-imprisonment-united-states
"Blacks Hit with Tasers Far More Than Whites" [Poughkeepsie Journal]
http://bikersofamerica.blogspot.com/2012/02/poughkeepsie-ny-blacks-hit-with-tasers.html
"Stun-Gun Use Per Officer Can Vary Widely" [Poughkeepsie Journal]
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20120212/NEWS01/302120078/Stun-gun-use-per-officer-can-vary-widely
"Shocked Over and Over: Taser Uses, Policies Skirt Guidelines"
[Poughkeepsie Journal]
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20120220/WATCHDOG/302200015/Shocked-over-over-Taser-uses-policies-skirt-guidelines
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
From http://www.thenation.com/article/166887/justice-trayvon-martin ...
Published on Monday, March 19, 2012 by The Nation
Justice for Trayvon Martin
by Mychal Denzel Smith
. Here's what we know: Trayvon Martin is dead.
On February 26, during halftime of the NBA All-Star game, the 17-year-old high school junior went to a nearby store in the Orlando suburb where he was visiting his father and stepmother in order to buy some candy for his younger brother. He returned to his family a six-foot, three-inch, 140-pound corpse.
We know who killed him.
George Zimmerman, a 28-year-old college student who had appointed himself captain of the neighborhood watch for the Retreat at Twin Lakes gated community, admits to shooting Martin with a 9mm handgun. Zimmerman spotted Martin and followed him in his car before placing a 911 call to report a "suspicious person in the area."
"This guy looks like he's up to no good, or he's on drugs or something," Zimmerman told the 911 operator. "He's just staring, looking at all the houses." What happened in the approximately twenty minutes between the time this call took place and when Zimmerman fired the shot that killed Martin is disputed-although recordings of the 911 call provide chilling hints-but what we do know is that Zimmerman claims he shot the young man in self-defense. This was enough for the police to let him go. Zimmerman was not and has, as of this writing, yet to be arrested.
We also know that Trayvon was black.
There are some who would argue that race is not a factor here. We've heard that Zimmerman is Latino-but this is not a defense. Neither is the statement released by Zimmerman's father, which employs the "he has black friends" claim. Mentoring two black children and word from black neighbors that they would entrust Zimmerman with their lives doesn't preclude him from holding racist views of black men. If it did, how then does he explain what made Martin a suspicious enough figure that it warranted Zimmerman leaving his vehicle and getting into an altercation with the young man?
What was the threat? We know that the only items retrieved from Martin's person were a bag of Skittles and a can of iced tea, so unless Zimmerman felt he was in danger of contracting a deadly form of diabetes or a lethal cavity, he has more explaining to do. But whether the item is as innocuous as a bag of candy-or, in Amadou Diallo's case, a wallet-the assumption is that the natural state of black men is armed and dangerous.
If Martin was so threatening, why didn't Zimmerman wait for the police to arrive, particularly after being told not to follow the suspect? ("We don't need you to do that," the dispatcher told him.) Why have three witnesses come forward to say that in the moments before the shooting they heard crying that stopped as soon as the bullet fired? Was Martin crying in anger? And what if he was? Would he not have a right to be angry that a man was stalking him for no reason? And if Martin was the aggressor, how did he manage to get a man nearly a hundred pounds heavier than himself to the ground? What injuries did Zimmerman sustain that would lead us to believe there was a struggle that left him in the grip of a life-and-death situation? And now that the 911 tapes have been released, how do you justify the two shots that were fired, one from a distance, the other the fatal one from close range? Does self-defense require a warning shot?
That these questions are likely to go unanswered in court of law is thanks to Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law, which places the threshold for self-defense so low that you need little more than your word to show that your life was in danger. Zimmerman's description of events was enough for the police, who evidently feel they know all that they need to know to determine that Zimmerman should be free to walk the streets while Martin's family mourns. The crime of killing a black person still is not greater than the crime of being black. And, as one of the family's attorneys asked, "Do we really believe that if Trayvon Martin had pulled the trigger, he would not have been arrested?"
We know that being a black man in America is a life-threatening occupation, whether you're a 22-year-old in Oakland or a 13-year-old in Chicago or a 17 year-old in Orlando. The characters change, but the script remains the same. When everyone has had their say, another young black man has been killed for doing nothing more than being a young black man.
What we don't yet know is what it will take to get justice for Trayvon.
A good place to start would be signing the Change.org petition started by his parents calling on Florida's 18th District State's Attorney to prosecute Zimmerman. Trayvon is dead, and black men everywhere live in constant fear they could be the next Trayvon. The very least we can do is put his killer in handcuffs.
© 2012 The Nation
Mychal Denzel Smith is a freelance writer and social commentator. His work on race, politics, social justice, pop culture, hip hop, mental health, feminism and black male identity has appeared in various publications, including The Guardian, Ebony, theGrio, the Root, Huffington Post and GOOD.
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From http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/03/22-3 ...
Published on Thursday, March 22, 2012 by TruthDig.com
Walking While Black: The Killing of Trayvon Martin
by Amy Goodma
On the rainy night of Sunday, Feb. 26, 17-year-old Trayvon Martin walked to a convenience store in Sanford, Fla. On his way home, with his Skittles and iced tea, the African-American teenager was shot and killed. The gunman, George Zimmerman, didn't run. He claimed that he killed the young man in self-defense. The Sanford Police agreed and let him go. Since then, witnesses have come forward, 911 emergency calls have been released, and outrage over the killing has gone global.
Trayvon Martin
Trayvon Martin lived in Miami. He was visiting his father in Sanford, near Orlando, staying in the gated community known as The Retreat at Twin Lakes, where Zimmerman volunteered with the Neighborhood Watch program. The Miami Herald reported that Zimmerman was a "habitual caller" to the police, making 46 calls since January 2011. He was out on his rounds as a self-appointed watchman, packing his concealed 9 mm pistol, when he called 911: "We've had some break-ins in my neighborhood, and there's a real suspicious guy ... this guy looks like he's up to no good, or he's on drugs or something."
Later in the call, Zimmerman exclaims, "OK. These a-holes always get away. ... [Expletive], he's running."
Sounds of Zimmerman moving follow, along with a controversial utterance from Zimmerman, under his breath, considered by many to be "[Expletive] coons." The sound of his running prompted the 911 operator to ask, "Are you following him?" Zimmerman replied, "Yeah," to which the dispatcher said, "OK, we don't need you to do that."
One of the attorneys representing the Martin family, Jasmine Rand, told me: "The term 'coon' on the audiotape ... is a very obvious racial slur against African-Americans. We also heard the neighbors come forward and say, 'Yeah, in this particular neighborhood, we look for young black males to be committing criminal activity.' And that's exactly what George Zimmerman did that night. He found a young black male that he did not recognize, assumed that he did not belong there, and he targeted him."
Another 911 call that has been released is from a woman who hears someone crying for help, then a gunshot.
Eyewitnesses Mary Cutcher and Selma Mora Lamilla both heard the cries, which police say could have been from Zimmerman, thus supporting his claim, even though he had a gun and outweighed Trayvon Martin by 80 pounds.
Cutcher said at a press conference: "I feel it was not self-defense, because I heard the crying. And if it was Zimmerman that was crying, Zimmerman would have continued crying after the shot went off. The only thing I saw that night-I heard the crying. We were in the kitchen. I heard the crying. It was a little boy. As soon as the gun went off, the crying stopped. Therefore, it tells me it was not Zimmerman crying."
Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee has defended his department's decision not to arrest Zimmerman. They bagged Martin's body and took it away, labeling him a "John Doe," even though they had his cellphone, which anyone, let alone law enforcement with a shooting victim, could have used to easily identify a person. They tested Martin's corpse for drugs and alcohol. Zimmerman was not tested. Neighbors say that Zimmerman loaded things into a U-Haul truck and left the area.
So, while the police and State Attorney Norm Wolfinger have defended their inaction, a democratic demand for justice has ricocheted around the country, prompting a U.S. Justice Department investigation and leading Wolfinger to promise to convene a grand jury. The Rev. Glenn Dames, pastor of St. James AME Church in nearby Titusville, has called Martin's death "a modern-day lynching." His demand for the immediate arrest of Zimmerman was echoed by the organizers of the "Million Hoodie March" in New York City, named after the often racially stereotyped sweatshirt Martin was wearing in the rain when he was shot.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has called for the removal of Sanford Police Chief Lee. NAACP President Ben Jealous, recounting a mass meeting in a Sanford-area church Tuesday night, quoted a local resident who stood up and said, "'If you kill a dog in this town, you'd be in jail the next day.' Trayvon Martin was killed four weeks ago, and his killer is still walking the streets."
With his gun.
Denis Moynihan contributed research to this column.
© 2012 Amy Goodman
Amy Goodman is the host of "Democracy Now!," a daily international TV/radio news hour airing on 900 stations in North America. She was awarded the 2008 Right Livelihood Award, dubbed the "Alternative Nobel" prize, and received the award in the Swedish Parliament in December.
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From https://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/03/26-4 ...
Published on Monday, March 26, 2012 by Common Dreams
Sanford Police Department: 10 k Could Attend Trayvon Martin Rally in Florida
Anger grows across nation on the one-month anniversary of the shooting
- Common Dreams staff
Police expect as many as 10,000 people to attend a rally in Sanford, Florida today, on the one-month anniversary of the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. The national anger over the shooting of Martin, who was shot and killed while walking home from a store where he purchased candy and tea, continues to escalate. Activists are attempting to pressure law enforcement authorities to arrest and prosecute George Zimmerman, who admits to shooting Martin but claims it was in self-defense. To date, no arrests have been made in relation to the fatal shooting.
The incident has brought national attention to Florida's Stand Your Ground law, which critics say enables violent criminals to get away with murder. The shooting has also brought increased attention to the role race plays in violent crime.
Other events are expected to take place across the country.
* * *
Trayvon Martin: parents and protesters to attend rally in Florida as anger grows (The UK Guardian):
Thousands of protesters are expected to join the parents of Trayvon Martin at a rally in Florida amid growing anger and increasing pressure on authorities to arrest the black teenager's killer.
Police in Sanford said that up to 10,000 people could take part in the demonstration, which comes exactly a month after the 17-year-old was shot dead by self-appointed neighbourhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman.
The rally is one of a series of events taking place across the US on Monday to protest against the handling of the case and the perceived failure to hold the 28-year-old to account over Martin's death.
Over the weekend, vigils were held in churches across America in memory of Martin, who was killed as he walked back to the home of his father's girlfriend after a trip to nearby convenience store.
A number of preachers wore hooded tops in a sign of solidarity with the dead teenager's supporters. Martin was wearing a hoodie at the time of the killing.
* * *
Trayvon Martin: 1 month later, calls for justice grow (Bay News 9)
Two events planned Monday in the ongoing call for justice in the case of Trayvon Martin's death are expected to be especially somber, as it has now been one month since the 17-year-old was shot and killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer.
Thousands are expected to gather once again for a pair of rallies planned in Sanford, which organizers hope will be similar to last week's rally that brought an estimated 10,000 people to Fort Mellon Park.
Monday's first rally is expected to begin at 4 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church, including a protest march from Centennial Park to the Sanford Civic Center.
The march will also include a protest outside Sanford City Hall.
Then, at 5 p.m., protesters plan to rally at a special town hall meeting at the Civic Center.
City leaders said the doors at the Civic Center open at 4 p.m., but since the city is expecting so many people, officials said they are setting up a jumbo-sized TV screen at Fort Mellon Park to accommodate everyone who shows up for the event.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is expected to return to Florida for the rally, along with the Rev. Jesse Jackson and members of Trayvon Martin's family.
Rallies are being held and scheduled across the country, including in Tampa
Email 25 of us at countylegislators@co.dutchess.ny.us-- four ways
here Dutchess could honor Trayvon Martin(!):
[scroll down for full text of new resolution I submitted early this
morning to our County Legislature's offices-- and put Mon. Apr. 16th
7 pm on your calendars-- come out to speak up that night at our County
Legislature's full board meeting-- on the sixth floor of our County
Office Building at 22 Market Street in Poughkeepsie; numbers count!]
1. Co-host a public forum with the Dutchess County Sheriff's office
and local law enforcement agencies on the issue of racial profiling
to allow members of local communities to freely and publicly
questions of the Dutchess County Sheriff's office and other local law
enforcement agencies.
[see: http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/projects/prison/po111500s2.shtml ]
2. Request that the Dutchess County Criminal Justice Council evaluate
the cost and feasibility of creating an independent civilian review
board with investigatory and subpoena power for complaints regarding
the Dutchess County Jail and Dutchess County Sheriff's Department.
[see: Police Assessment Resource Center-- http://www.PARC.info --
100+ civilian review boards in U.S.]
3. Requests that the Dutchess County Sheriff's Department be present
and on the agenda for the next Public Safety Committee meeting to
discuss issues recently raised about Tasers in the Poughkeepsie
Journal.
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20120325/OPINION01/303250062/Taser-use-must-regulated-reported
4. Call on Florida's 18th District State's Attorney to prosecute
George Zimmerman, and that Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee should be
removed from office, as called for by the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People.
[see: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/03/22-3 ;
http://www.thenation.com/article/166887/justice-trayvon-martin ]
Long-time City of Poughkeepsie community activist Mae Parker-Harris and Dutchess County Legislator Joel Tyner (D-Clinton/Rhinebeck), cofounders of the Real Majority Project, have organized a Rally for Justice for Trayvon Martin today (Sat.) Mar. 31st at noon at Earline Patrice at Mansion Square Park in the City of Poughkeepsie (between Clinton and Hamilton streets on Mansion Street).
Kudos to Mae Parker-Harris, Rev. Tama Bell, and all who came out today to the inspirational first of a series of weekly Rallies for Justice for Trayvon Martin (every Saturday-- noon at Earline Patrice at Mansion Square Park in Poughkeepsie)-- speakers/attendees included Rev. Dr. H. Dwight Bolton (of Smith Metropolitan A.M.E. Zion Church), Rev. Walter LeFlore (Unitarian Universalist Fellowship), Rev. Blake Rider (Christ Episcopal Church), City of Poughkeepsie Council Chair Gwen Johnson, City of Poughkeepsie Fifth Ward Councilwoman Ann Perry, and long-time community activists Judy Green and Marta Knapp, Tron Melton, Margaret White, Blair Goodman (of Working Families Party and Occupy Poughkeepsie), Pat Lamanna, Barbara Lindsey, Fred and Alice Bunnell, Jeff Green, Spencer Resnick (of Vassar RebuildtheDream.com), and many others from Occupy Poughkeepsie-- Stephen Greiner, Pat Quinn, Kyle Van Steenburgh, Brady Massey, Russell Bimbo, Rebecca DeLaCruz of DCC Political Science Club, tons more!...
Fact: Even our county's own Human Rights Commission has received dozens of complaints about various police departments and our criminal justice system over the past few years alone (according to official county government records/documents from DCHRC).
[recall blog post from this past Oct. 11th on this; thx to Steve Meddaugh's efforts:
http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2011/10/rally-with-ann-perry-mae-parker-harris.html ]
Pass it on!...
Joel
845-444-0599/876-2488
joeltyner@earthlink.net
http://www.JoelforCongress.org
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel (238 on board!)
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[again-- re: new resolution below from yours truly; email
countylegislators@co.dutchess.ny.us now!]
WHEREAS, on February 26th this year 17-year-old Trayvon Martin walked to a convenience store in Sanford, Florida; on his way home, with his
Skittles and iced tea, the African-American teenager was shot and
killed; the gunman, George Zimmerman, didn't run, claiming he killed
the young man in self-defense; the Sanford Police agreed, let him go;
witnesses have spoken up, 911 calls released, outrage gone global, and
WHEREAS, there are over 100 counties/cities in U.S. with civilian
review boards for jails or sheriff/police departments, including New
York City, St. Paul, Seattle, San Diego, Los Angeles, and San
Francisco, and
WHEREAS, the Poughkeepsie Journal has reported that in Dutchess
County, though African Americans constitute just 10% of the
population, 52% of all those sentenced in Dutchess County are African
American, and another 11% are other minorities; just 37% are white,
even though whites make up 80% of the county population; 67% of all
felony drug arrests have been of blacks, though African Americans
were only 10% of the general population; moreover, blacks are 85% of
all people serving prison sentences for drug crimes from Dutchess
(highest in NY); Dutchess ranked eighth statewide in the combined
percentage of blacks and Hispanics incarcerated for drug crimes, with
92 percent of drug sentences being served by minorities, and
WHEREAS, the Poughkeepsie Journal reported this year that Taser use
has more than tripled from 2006 to 2010 at police agencies in the
mid-Hudson region and that "the Dutchess County Sheriff's Office has
50 Tasers, and almost every patrol officer carries one; yet a single
deputy accounted for a quarter of the department's stun-gun uses
since 2005"; as the Poughkeepsie Journal editorialized March 24th,
"police agencies aren't required to report stun-gun use or related
deaths to state overseers; they should be," and
WHEREAS, according to the Poughkeepsie Journal, "Tasers have been
used when people merely fail to follow orders, such as a woman
stunned twice after she 'folded her arms and refused to be cuffed';
this situation likely could have been handled with a lesser degree of
force; in at least three dozen cases, people were stunned when
running away (and sometimes walking) from minor crimes or for
refusing to follow orders"; as the Poughkeepsie Journal reported in
February, "among Taser cases of City of Poughkeepsie police, blacks
comprised 61 percent of stun-gun subjects, and a 2011 study by the
NYCLU also found disproportionate use of stun guns on minorities, the
phenomenon 'echoes consistent and disturbing practices of
over-policing in communities of color,' the study said," and
RESOLVED, that the Dutchess County Legislature do these four things
to restore true criminal justice:
1. Co-host a public forum with the Dutchess County Sheriff's office
and local law enforcement agencies on the issue of racial profiling
to allow members of local communities to freely and publicly
questions of the Dutchess County Sheriff's office and other local law
enforcement agencies;
2. Requests that the Dutchess County Criminal Justice Council
evaluate the cost and feasibility of creating an independent civilian
review board with investigatory and subpoena power for complaints
regarding the Dutchess County Jail and Dutchess County Sheriff's
Department;
3. Requests that the Dutchess County Sheriff's Department be present
and on the agenda for the next Public Safety Committee meeting to
discuss issues recently raised about Tasers in the Poughkeepsie
Journal; and
4. Calls on Florida's 18th District State's Attorney to prosecute
George Zimmerman, and that Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee should be
removed from office, as called for by the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People; and be it further
RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be sent to all of the
appropriate entities mentioned here above.
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More supporting documentation:
"The New Jim Crow: Lecture Series and Community Read on Issues of
Race and Imprisonment in the United States" (Occupy Poughkeepsie post
3/07/2012 re: programs at Family Partnership Center)
http://occupypoughkeepsie.org/articles/new-jim-crow-lecture-series-and-community-read-issues-race-and-imprisonment-united-states
"Blacks Hit with Tasers Far More Than Whites" [Poughkeepsie Journal]
http://bikersofamerica.blogspot.com/2012/02/poughkeepsie-ny-blacks-hit-with-tasers.html
"Stun-Gun Use Per Officer Can Vary Widely" [Poughkeepsie Journal]
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20120212/NEWS01/302120078/Stun-gun-use-per-officer-can-vary-widely
"Shocked Over and Over: Taser Uses, Policies Skirt Guidelines"
[Poughkeepsie Journal]
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20120220/WATCHDOG/302200015/Shocked-over-over-Taser-uses-policies-skirt-guidelines
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From http://www.thenation.com/article/166887/justice-trayvon-martin ...
Published on Monday, March 19, 2012 by The Nation
Justice for Trayvon Martin
by Mychal Denzel Smith
. Here's what we know: Trayvon Martin is dead.
On February 26, during halftime of the NBA All-Star game, the 17-year-old high school junior went to a nearby store in the Orlando suburb where he was visiting his father and stepmother in order to buy some candy for his younger brother. He returned to his family a six-foot, three-inch, 140-pound corpse.
We know who killed him.
George Zimmerman, a 28-year-old college student who had appointed himself captain of the neighborhood watch for the Retreat at Twin Lakes gated community, admits to shooting Martin with a 9mm handgun. Zimmerman spotted Martin and followed him in his car before placing a 911 call to report a "suspicious person in the area."
"This guy looks like he's up to no good, or he's on drugs or something," Zimmerman told the 911 operator. "He's just staring, looking at all the houses." What happened in the approximately twenty minutes between the time this call took place and when Zimmerman fired the shot that killed Martin is disputed-although recordings of the 911 call provide chilling hints-but what we do know is that Zimmerman claims he shot the young man in self-defense. This was enough for the police to let him go. Zimmerman was not and has, as of this writing, yet to be arrested.
We also know that Trayvon was black.
There are some who would argue that race is not a factor here. We've heard that Zimmerman is Latino-but this is not a defense. Neither is the statement released by Zimmerman's father, which employs the "he has black friends" claim. Mentoring two black children and word from black neighbors that they would entrust Zimmerman with their lives doesn't preclude him from holding racist views of black men. If it did, how then does he explain what made Martin a suspicious enough figure that it warranted Zimmerman leaving his vehicle and getting into an altercation with the young man?
What was the threat? We know that the only items retrieved from Martin's person were a bag of Skittles and a can of iced tea, so unless Zimmerman felt he was in danger of contracting a deadly form of diabetes or a lethal cavity, he has more explaining to do. But whether the item is as innocuous as a bag of candy-or, in Amadou Diallo's case, a wallet-the assumption is that the natural state of black men is armed and dangerous.
If Martin was so threatening, why didn't Zimmerman wait for the police to arrive, particularly after being told not to follow the suspect? ("We don't need you to do that," the dispatcher told him.) Why have three witnesses come forward to say that in the moments before the shooting they heard crying that stopped as soon as the bullet fired? Was Martin crying in anger? And what if he was? Would he not have a right to be angry that a man was stalking him for no reason? And if Martin was the aggressor, how did he manage to get a man nearly a hundred pounds heavier than himself to the ground? What injuries did Zimmerman sustain that would lead us to believe there was a struggle that left him in the grip of a life-and-death situation? And now that the 911 tapes have been released, how do you justify the two shots that were fired, one from a distance, the other the fatal one from close range? Does self-defense require a warning shot?
That these questions are likely to go unanswered in court of law is thanks to Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law, which places the threshold for self-defense so low that you need little more than your word to show that your life was in danger. Zimmerman's description of events was enough for the police, who evidently feel they know all that they need to know to determine that Zimmerman should be free to walk the streets while Martin's family mourns. The crime of killing a black person still is not greater than the crime of being black. And, as one of the family's attorneys asked, "Do we really believe that if Trayvon Martin had pulled the trigger, he would not have been arrested?"
We know that being a black man in America is a life-threatening occupation, whether you're a 22-year-old in Oakland or a 13-year-old in Chicago or a 17 year-old in Orlando. The characters change, but the script remains the same. When everyone has had their say, another young black man has been killed for doing nothing more than being a young black man.
What we don't yet know is what it will take to get justice for Trayvon.
A good place to start would be signing the Change.org petition started by his parents calling on Florida's 18th District State's Attorney to prosecute Zimmerman. Trayvon is dead, and black men everywhere live in constant fear they could be the next Trayvon. The very least we can do is put his killer in handcuffs.
© 2012 The Nation
Mychal Denzel Smith is a freelance writer and social commentator. His work on race, politics, social justice, pop culture, hip hop, mental health, feminism and black male identity has appeared in various publications, including The Guardian, Ebony, theGrio, the Root, Huffington Post and GOOD.
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From http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/03/22-3 ...
Published on Thursday, March 22, 2012 by TruthDig.com
Walking While Black: The Killing of Trayvon Martin
by Amy Goodma
On the rainy night of Sunday, Feb. 26, 17-year-old Trayvon Martin walked to a convenience store in Sanford, Fla. On his way home, with his Skittles and iced tea, the African-American teenager was shot and killed. The gunman, George Zimmerman, didn't run. He claimed that he killed the young man in self-defense. The Sanford Police agreed and let him go. Since then, witnesses have come forward, 911 emergency calls have been released, and outrage over the killing has gone global.
Trayvon Martin
Trayvon Martin lived in Miami. He was visiting his father in Sanford, near Orlando, staying in the gated community known as The Retreat at Twin Lakes, where Zimmerman volunteered with the Neighborhood Watch program. The Miami Herald reported that Zimmerman was a "habitual caller" to the police, making 46 calls since January 2011. He was out on his rounds as a self-appointed watchman, packing his concealed 9 mm pistol, when he called 911: "We've had some break-ins in my neighborhood, and there's a real suspicious guy ... this guy looks like he's up to no good, or he's on drugs or something."
Later in the call, Zimmerman exclaims, "OK. These a-holes always get away. ... [Expletive], he's running."
Sounds of Zimmerman moving follow, along with a controversial utterance from Zimmerman, under his breath, considered by many to be "[Expletive] coons." The sound of his running prompted the 911 operator to ask, "Are you following him?" Zimmerman replied, "Yeah," to which the dispatcher said, "OK, we don't need you to do that."
One of the attorneys representing the Martin family, Jasmine Rand, told me: "The term 'coon' on the audiotape ... is a very obvious racial slur against African-Americans. We also heard the neighbors come forward and say, 'Yeah, in this particular neighborhood, we look for young black males to be committing criminal activity.' And that's exactly what George Zimmerman did that night. He found a young black male that he did not recognize, assumed that he did not belong there, and he targeted him."
Another 911 call that has been released is from a woman who hears someone crying for help, then a gunshot.
Eyewitnesses Mary Cutcher and Selma Mora Lamilla both heard the cries, which police say could have been from Zimmerman, thus supporting his claim, even though he had a gun and outweighed Trayvon Martin by 80 pounds.
Cutcher said at a press conference: "I feel it was not self-defense, because I heard the crying. And if it was Zimmerman that was crying, Zimmerman would have continued crying after the shot went off. The only thing I saw that night-I heard the crying. We were in the kitchen. I heard the crying. It was a little boy. As soon as the gun went off, the crying stopped. Therefore, it tells me it was not Zimmerman crying."
Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee has defended his department's decision not to arrest Zimmerman. They bagged Martin's body and took it away, labeling him a "John Doe," even though they had his cellphone, which anyone, let alone law enforcement with a shooting victim, could have used to easily identify a person. They tested Martin's corpse for drugs and alcohol. Zimmerman was not tested. Neighbors say that Zimmerman loaded things into a U-Haul truck and left the area.
So, while the police and State Attorney Norm Wolfinger have defended their inaction, a democratic demand for justice has ricocheted around the country, prompting a U.S. Justice Department investigation and leading Wolfinger to promise to convene a grand jury. The Rev. Glenn Dames, pastor of St. James AME Church in nearby Titusville, has called Martin's death "a modern-day lynching." His demand for the immediate arrest of Zimmerman was echoed by the organizers of the "Million Hoodie March" in New York City, named after the often racially stereotyped sweatshirt Martin was wearing in the rain when he was shot.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has called for the removal of Sanford Police Chief Lee. NAACP President Ben Jealous, recounting a mass meeting in a Sanford-area church Tuesday night, quoted a local resident who stood up and said, "'If you kill a dog in this town, you'd be in jail the next day.' Trayvon Martin was killed four weeks ago, and his killer is still walking the streets."
With his gun.
Denis Moynihan contributed research to this column.
© 2012 Amy Goodman
Amy Goodman is the host of "Democracy Now!," a daily international TV/radio news hour airing on 900 stations in North America. She was awarded the 2008 Right Livelihood Award, dubbed the "Alternative Nobel" prize, and received the award in the Swedish Parliament in December.
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From https://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/03/26-4 ...
Published on Monday, March 26, 2012 by Common Dreams
Sanford Police Department: 10 k Could Attend Trayvon Martin Rally in Florida
Anger grows across nation on the one-month anniversary of the shooting
- Common Dreams staff
Police expect as many as 10,000 people to attend a rally in Sanford, Florida today, on the one-month anniversary of the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. The national anger over the shooting of Martin, who was shot and killed while walking home from a store where he purchased candy and tea, continues to escalate. Activists are attempting to pressure law enforcement authorities to arrest and prosecute George Zimmerman, who admits to shooting Martin but claims it was in self-defense. To date, no arrests have been made in relation to the fatal shooting.
The incident has brought national attention to Florida's Stand Your Ground law, which critics say enables violent criminals to get away with murder. The shooting has also brought increased attention to the role race plays in violent crime.
Other events are expected to take place across the country.
* * *
Trayvon Martin: parents and protesters to attend rally in Florida as anger grows (The UK Guardian):
Thousands of protesters are expected to join the parents of Trayvon Martin at a rally in Florida amid growing anger and increasing pressure on authorities to arrest the black teenager's killer.
Police in Sanford said that up to 10,000 people could take part in the demonstration, which comes exactly a month after the 17-year-old was shot dead by self-appointed neighbourhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman.
The rally is one of a series of events taking place across the US on Monday to protest against the handling of the case and the perceived failure to hold the 28-year-old to account over Martin's death.
Over the weekend, vigils were held in churches across America in memory of Martin, who was killed as he walked back to the home of his father's girlfriend after a trip to nearby convenience store.
A number of preachers wore hooded tops in a sign of solidarity with the dead teenager's supporters. Martin was wearing a hoodie at the time of the killing.
* * *
Trayvon Martin: 1 month later, calls for justice grow (Bay News 9)
Two events planned Monday in the ongoing call for justice in the case of Trayvon Martin's death are expected to be especially somber, as it has now been one month since the 17-year-old was shot and killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer.
Thousands are expected to gather once again for a pair of rallies planned in Sanford, which organizers hope will be similar to last week's rally that brought an estimated 10,000 people to Fort Mellon Park.
Monday's first rally is expected to begin at 4 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church, including a protest march from Centennial Park to the Sanford Civic Center.
The march will also include a protest outside Sanford City Hall.
Then, at 5 p.m., protesters plan to rally at a special town hall meeting at the Civic Center.
City leaders said the doors at the Civic Center open at 4 p.m., but since the city is expecting so many people, officials said they are setting up a jumbo-sized TV screen at Fort Mellon Park to accommodate everyone who shows up for the event.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is expected to return to Florida for the rally, along with the Rev. Jesse Jackson and members of Trayvon Martin's family.
Rallies are being held and scheduled across the country, including in Tampa
rally Weds.-- divest Dutchess from BofA, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo!...
Hi all...
Please let us know as soon as possible if you might be able to come out to join us this Weds. (Apr. 4th) at 4:30 pm for our Rally to Divest Dutchess County from Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo-- in front of our County Office Building at 22 Market Street in Poughkeepsie!...
Scroll down just a bit to see resolution from yours truly on this-- co-sponsored by Conservative Co. Leg. Jim Doxsey-- it'll actually be on the Co. Leg. Committee Day agenda this coming Thurs.-- April 5th(!)...
As always, your letters to all 25 of us in the Co. Leg. matter; email countylegislators@co.dutchess.ny.us!
Thanks again much to OccupyPoughkeepsie.org for inspiration to us to go forward on this; many times last fall Occupy Poughkeepsie rallies and marches stopped in front of JPMorgan Chase on Main Street in Poughkeepsie; many from Occupy Poughkeepsie also joined me for rallies I organized last year in front of Bank of America on Market St./Poughkeepsie-- now is our chance to change policy!...(update-- a number of Occupy Poughkeepsie folks at today's Justice for Trayvon rally told me they'd try to come out for Weds. rally-- so join us Weds. if you can)!...
Kudos to Harold Miller of New York Communities for Change for his success across NYS in getting municipalities to divest from irresponsible financial institutions like Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, etc. (back in January I introduced Harold to key Occupy Poughkeepsie members; soon afterwards he came down to speak at O-Pok. workshop)...
[H. Miller and New York Communities for Change have already been effective in getting the town of Ithaca and villages of Hempstead and Freeport to divest from irresponsible banking institutions like Bank of America (in those three cases, it was JP Morgan Chase)-- see much more on this here-- http://www.nycommunities.org/taxonomy/term/2 ;
http://www.alternet.org/economy/150387/2_3rds_of_us_corporations_pay_zero_federal_taxes%3A_us_uncut_movement_builds_to_make_them_pay_up/ ; http://www.USUncut.org.]
Recall this as well...
"Members of the Albany County Legislature are calling for the county to pull its money from Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase. The 25 legislators signed a proclamation urging John McPhillips, commissioner of management and budget, to close the county's $90 million account from Bank of America and to discontinue procurement cards with JPMorgan Chase. The legislators are concerned about the number of foreclosures in the county, and noted that both banks have a significant number of area homes on the delinquency list. The proclamation states that Bank of America has 465 delinquencies in the region and JP Morgan has 316 area homes in danger of foreclosure. The proclamation also says the banks have "demonstrated a lack of willingness to engage in good-faith efforts" to modify loans and help people keep their homes. The effort, headed by county legislators Norma Chapman, Doug Bullock and Timothy Nichols, is part of a statewide campaign by NY Communities for Change."
[from "Albany County Legislators Want to Close Bank of America, JPMorgan Accounts" June 10th
http://www.bizjournals.com/albany/print-edition/2011/06/10/albany-county-legislators-want-to.html ]
[Feb. must-read on all this-- "Watch Us Move Our Millions" by Rebecca Leisher (in Yes! magazine):
http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/9-strategies-to-end-corporate-rule/watch-us-move-our-millions ]
Pass it on!...
Joel
845-444-0599/876-2488
joeltyner@earthlink.net
http://www.JoelforCongress.org
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel (238 there!)
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[text here of Tyner/Doxsey resolution; more co-sponsors needed; scroll down below for documentation!]
WHEREAS, Dutchess County now has $50 million accounts each with Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo- banks widely reported as responsible for mortgage fraud and our economic collapse, and
WHEREAS, former Dutchess County Executive William Steinhaus sent our County Legislature a letter December 15th stating that, "Foreclosure rates in Dutchess County are at record numbers; there are a total of over 4,000 foreclosures in Dutchess over just the last three-year period," and currently in Dutchess County there are 414 home bankruptcy listings, 98 short sales, 61 foreclosures, 43 preforeclosures, and 11 sheriff sales at Foreclosures.com, and
WHEREAS, last June 25 members of the Albany County Legislature signed a proclamation calling for the county to pull its $90 million account from Bank of America and to discontinue procurement cards with JPMorgan Chase because at that time Bank of America had 465 delinquencies in the region and JP Morgan had 316 area homes in danger of foreclosure, and those banks had "demonstrated a lack of willingness to engage in good-faith efforts" to modify loans and help people keep their homes, as here in Dutchess County; several months later Albany County's $90 million account with Bank of America was closed, and
WHEREAS, the municipal boards of Hempstead, Freeport, and Ithaca have all voted for the same reason over the last year to divest from irresponsible financial institutions such as Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo; even the Northern Dutchess Alliance's "Blueprint for Economic Development" strongly recommended holding local financial institutions more publicly accountable for their commitment/investment (or lack thereof) in our local communities, and
WHEREAS, last year the City of San Jose moved nearly $1 billion from Bank of America because of the bank's high record of home foreclosures; City Council members linked foreclosures to lost tax revenues and cuts to jobs and services, and urged other U.S. cities to follow San Jose's example, and last November the Seattle City Council unanimously passed a resolution to review its banking and investment practices "to ensure that public funds are invested in responsible financial institutions that support our community," and
WHEREAS, officials in Portland, Oregon, Los Angeles, and New York City are looking to follow as well, and congregations in the California interfaith coalition LA Voice vowed to divest $2 million from Wells Fargo and Bank of America, ending a 200-year relationship with the big banks; the Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in East San Jose, Calif., pulled $3 million out of Bank of America and reinvested the funds into Micro Branch, a division of Self-Help Federal Credit Union designed to assist underserved communities, and therefore be it
RESOLVED, that the Dutchess County Legislature requests that the Dutchess County Commissioner of Finance divest Dutchess County funds from Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, and Wells Fargo, thereby ending the current $150,000,000 worth of county funds kept in those financial institutions, and find more responsible banks to deposit those monies, and be it further
RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be sent to the Dutchess County Executive and the Dutchess County Commissioner of Finance.
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Supporting documentation:
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Executive Order No. 2, 2011
Dated: October 17, 2011
[signed by Dutchess County Executive William Steinhaus]
Pursuant to Section 3.02 (g) of the Dutchess County Charter, I hereby designate the following banks and trust companies for the deposit of moneys received by the Commissioner of Finance at the maximum amount set forth after the name of each bank or trust company:
HSBC Bank USA, N.A. Poughkeepsie, NY................$50,000,000
JP Morgan Chase Poughkeepsie, NY........................$50,000,000
Bank of America, Poughkeepsie, NY..........................$50,000,000
Wells Fargo (formerly Wachovia Bank, N.A.)
Poughkeepsie, NY.........................................................$50,000,000
Key Bank of New York, N.A., Poughkeepsie, NY.....$20,000,000
Bank of Millbrook, Millbrook, NY...................................$5,000,000
(merged with Stissing National Bank)
Manufacturers and Traders Trust Co. (M & T)..........$20,000,000
Poughkeepsie, NY
Orange County Trust Company, Fishkill, NY.............$5,000,000
Citizens Bank, Albany, NY..........................................$20,000,000
TD Bank, Poughkeepsie, NY.....................................$50,000,000
Citibank NA, Harrison, NY.........................................$50,000,000
Pursuant to Section 11 of the General Municipal Law, the Dutchess County Commissioner of Finance is authorized to invest in time deposit accounts, certificates of deposit or repurchase agreements of the above designated depositories or repurchase agreements of the Merrill Lynch Flexicash Program.
Pursuant to Section 212 of the County Law, the interest received on moneys deposited in time deposit accounts, certificates of deposit, or repurchase agreements of the above designated depositories shall be the prevailing rate paid by such designated depository, payable on such dates as agreed upon between the depository and the Dutchess County Commissioner of Finance.
This Executive Order No. 2 of 2011 supersedes Executive Order No. 1 of 2011 issued January 2, 2011.
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Two Reasons Why Dutchess County Should Divest from Bank of America:
"Bank Excuses on Foreclosure Growing Stale" by Michael Powell (Nov. 14th)
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/15/nyregion/patience-grows-thin-for-banks-foreclosure-excuses.html
"Eric Schneiderman Is A Big Thorn In Bank of America's Side" [Forbes Aug. 16th]
http://www.forbes.com/sites/halahtouryalai/2011/08/16/eric-schneiderman-is-a-big-thorn-in-bank-of-americas-side/
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Two Reasons Why Dutchess County Should Divest from JP Morgan Chase:
"Allegations of Fraud Continue to Surround JP Morgan Chase's Foreclosure Processes" Dec. 5th
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/12/prweb9016844.htm
"Her Bank Got Enough Help When It Was in Trouble. She Didn't." by Michael Powell Sept. 12th
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/13/nyregion/jpmorgan-chase-got-us-help-but-mortgage-holders-did-not.html
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Two Reasons Why Dutchess County Should Divest from Wells Fargo:
"DoJ Civil Rights Division Investigating Wells Fargo for Mortgage Fraud" by David Dayen July 27, 2011
http://news.firedoglake.com/2011/07/27/doj-civil-rights-division-investigating-wells-fargo-for-mortgage-fraud/
"Wells Fargo Settles Mortgage Abuse Lawsuit For $85 Million" by Chris Rugaber/Derek Kravitz July 20
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/20/wells-fargo-settlement-mortgage-abuse_n_905054.html
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http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/9-strategies-to-end-corporate-rule/watch-us-move-our-millions
Watch Us Move Our Millions
Cities, churches, and colleges take steps to move their money home.
by Rebecca Leisher
posted Feb 01, 2012
Since the big corporate banks crashed the economy in 2008, they've been rewarded with bailouts, tax breaks, and bonuses, while American workers lose jobs and homes. Little wonder that many Americans-and now, institutions and local governments-have been closing their accounts at big corporate banks and transferring their money to community banks and credit unions. The idea is to send a strong message about responsibility to government and Wall Street, while supporting institutions that genuinely stimulate local economies.
Bank Transfer Day was publicized over five weeks, largely through social networks. In that period, credit unions received an estimated $4.5 billion in new deposits transferred from banks, according to the Credit Union National Association.
Encouraged by the popularity of the "Move Your Money" campaign, citizens are calling for institutions to be accountable and "Move Our Money." A number of schools, churches, and local governments across the country are transferring large sums, or at least considering it, in what looks like the beginning of a broad movement to invest in local economies instead of Wall Street.
Last year the city of San Jose moved nearly $1 billion from Bank of America because of the bank's high record of home foreclosures. City Council members linked foreclosures to lost tax revenues and cuts to jobs and services, and urged other U.S. cities to follow San Jose's example. More recently, in November 2011, the Seattle City Council responded to the Occupy movement by unanimously passing a resolution to review its banking and investment practices "to ensure that public funds are invested in responsible financial institutions that support our community." Officials in Portland, Ore., Los Angeles, and New York City are discussing proposals that address how and where city funds are invested.
Massachusetts launched the Small Business Banking Partnership initiative last year to leverage small business loans and has already deposited $106 million in state reserve funds into community banks.
Student activists and the Responsible Endowments Coalition are urging colleges and universities-some of which have assets comparable to those of a town or city-to move at least a portion of their endowments from Wall Street. The Peralta Community Colleges District in California, with an annual budget of $140 million, has done just that. The district's board of trustees voted unanimously in November to move its assets into community banks and credit unions.
A Separation of Church and Bank
Video: After Bank of America foreclosed on thousands of homes
in their San Jose parish, the members of this Catholic
church bid it goodbye-
and took $3 million with them.
Churches and faith organizations are moving their money too. Congregations in the California interfaith coalition LA Voice vowed to divest $2 million from Wells Fargo and Bank of America, ending a 200-year relationship with the big banks. The Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in East San Jose, Calif., pulled $3 million out of Bank of America and reinvested the funds into Micro Branch, a division of Self-Help Federal Credit Union designed to assist underserved communities.
Moving money is most effective where banking practices and investments are transparent. Oregon Banks Local represents small business, family farms, and community banks. It offers a website tool that ranks local banks and credit unions on criteria like headquarters location, jobs created, and extent of local investment to show which financial institutions truly serve local communities.
"People from all walks of life are angry at the banks," says Ilana Berger, co-director of The New Bottom Line, a national campaign that promotes moving money from Wall Street. But the broad appeal of this grassroots movement toward financial reform is based on more than anger or strategy. "It's a way to move our money to follow our values," says Berger. "It's an opportunity to really protest against the banks, but also a way to show what we want them to be."
Rebecca Leisher wrote this article for 9 Strategies to End Corporate Rule, the Spring 2012 issue of YES! Magazine. Rebecca is a freelance writer and former YES! intern.
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http://www.yesmagazine.org/new-economy/a-separation-of-church-and-bank
Big News on Bank Transfers
The Occupy effect? In the last 3 months, Americans switched banks at three times the normal rate.
by Brooke Jarvis
posted Feb 03, 2012
Two summers ago, at the U.S. Social Forum, I attended a panel discussion about ways to expand the use of credit unions as alternatives to the "too big to fail" banks whose risky investments had helped tank the economy. Each of the speakers-people involved in credit union leadership or advocacy-expressed confusion and frustration that they hadn't already seen a post-crisis shift away from corporate banks and toward credit unions (which have the advantages of being not-for-profit, owned and governed by their depositors, far more likely than big banks to lend to small businesses, and not responsible for any global economic meltdowns).
It seemed that even as Americans were angry with Big Finance, they didn't make the connection to their personal accounts.
In the last 90 days, Americans changed banking providers at three times the normal rate, with 5.6 million people moving their money to a different bank.
Fast forward to last fall-when Occupy Wall Street was in full swing and activists were mobilizing around Bank Transfer Day, an effort to get customers to leave their Wall Street banks-and it seemed everybody was making the connection. Suddenly I was overhearing conversations on the ferry, on the bus, on the soccer field. People kept saying, "I really should have done this a long time ago, but I'm switching from Bank of America [or Chase, or Wells Fargo]. What bank do you use?" Local credit unions and community banks started staying open for extra hours to accommodate the rush of new customers. One morning in November, at my own credit union, I overheard a man explaining to the teller that he was considering becoming a member-but first he wanted to know if his money would be invested in mortgage-backed securities or credit default swaps.
This change, it turns out, was much more than anecdotal. A new analysis from the firm Javelin Strategy and Research found that, in the last 90 days, Americans changed banking providers at three times the normal rate, with 5.6 million people moving their money to a different bank.
Bank Transfer Day wasn't the first major effort to get people to ditch Wall Street banks, but it was the first to have this level of impact. Arianna Huffington spearheaded a 2010 mobilization, the Move Your Money Project, to move customers to community banks ("Our money has been used to make the system worse-what if we used it to make the system better?" she wrote). While the project gained a fair amount of interest, Javelin reports that the actual bank defections it prompted failed to register on its surveys.
So why was 2011's exodus so much bigger? Eleven percent of those who moved their money-some 610,000 people-reported that they did so directly because of Occupy Wall Street and Bank Transfer Day. The Occupy movement helped bring corporate power to the forefront of national discourse; Bank Transfer Day offered a clear, practical way for people to send a message-a chance to turn the mundane question of bank choice into a stance about their personal economic values.
Move Your Money and Save
Big banks don't just undermine local economies-they're bad for your wallet, too.
Then, just as the Occupy movement-and the media scrutiny it prompted-got more Americans thinking critically about the role of big banks in their lives, Bank of America announced a new monthly fee on debit card use. BofA became an instant poster child for out-of-control corporate greed, with hundreds of thousands of people signing petitions against the fee or pledging to close their accounts. President Obama condemned it; a Fox Business anchor cut up her card on the air. Eventually, Bank of America pulled the idea, but not before helping to confirm, for millions of Americans, the Occupy movement's charges that Wall Street banks operate by putting profits before public good-as they did with the practices that caused the financial crisis.
"It's just a $5 fee, but it really is symbolic of so much more," Norma Garcia, of the advocacy group Consumers Union, told the Washington Post. In the end, it helped launch Bank Transfer Day to new heights: 26 percent of those who changed banks cited excessive fees at their current institution.
They were surprised they hadn't already seen a post-crisis shift away from corporate banks and toward credit unions (which have the advantages of being not-for-profit, owned and governed by their depositors, far more likely than big banks to lend to small businesses, and not responsible for any global economic meltdowns).
Fees, of course, are just one of many reasons to switch to a credit union (though there's an interesting history-very much related to the deeper problems of corporate banks-that explains why credit unions and community banks tend to have lower fees). Still, the Bank of America backlash was a significant reminder, to the finance industry as well as to consumers, that giant banks aren't the only option-and that there are a variety of advantages to being mindful about what we support with our investments.
Indeed, the bank transfer push doesn't seem to be losing momentum, as large institutional accounts-including cities, universities, and churches-continue to join the bandwagon. San Jose, Calif. moved $1 billion from Bank of America; just this week, Berkeley announced a desire to move its reserves from Wells Fargo to local credit unions; and proposals are under consideration in Portland, Los Angeles, and New York City.
Please let us know as soon as possible if you might be able to come out to join us this Weds. (Apr. 4th) at 4:30 pm for our Rally to Divest Dutchess County from Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo-- in front of our County Office Building at 22 Market Street in Poughkeepsie!...
Scroll down just a bit to see resolution from yours truly on this-- co-sponsored by Conservative Co. Leg. Jim Doxsey-- it'll actually be on the Co. Leg. Committee Day agenda this coming Thurs.-- April 5th(!)...
As always, your letters to all 25 of us in the Co. Leg. matter; email countylegislators@co.dutchess.ny.us!
Thanks again much to OccupyPoughkeepsie.org for inspiration to us to go forward on this; many times last fall Occupy Poughkeepsie rallies and marches stopped in front of JPMorgan Chase on Main Street in Poughkeepsie; many from Occupy Poughkeepsie also joined me for rallies I organized last year in front of Bank of America on Market St./Poughkeepsie-- now is our chance to change policy!...(update-- a number of Occupy Poughkeepsie folks at today's Justice for Trayvon rally told me they'd try to come out for Weds. rally-- so join us Weds. if you can)!...
Kudos to Harold Miller of New York Communities for Change for his success across NYS in getting municipalities to divest from irresponsible financial institutions like Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, etc. (back in January I introduced Harold to key Occupy Poughkeepsie members; soon afterwards he came down to speak at O-Pok. workshop)...
[H. Miller and New York Communities for Change have already been effective in getting the town of Ithaca and villages of Hempstead and Freeport to divest from irresponsible banking institutions like Bank of America (in those three cases, it was JP Morgan Chase)-- see much more on this here-- http://www.nycommunities.org/taxonomy/term/2 ;
http://www.alternet.org/economy/150387/2_3rds_of_us_corporations_pay_zero_federal_taxes%3A_us_uncut_movement_builds_to_make_them_pay_up/ ; http://www.USUncut.org.]
Recall this as well...
"Members of the Albany County Legislature are calling for the county to pull its money from Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase. The 25 legislators signed a proclamation urging John McPhillips, commissioner of management and budget, to close the county's $90 million account from Bank of America and to discontinue procurement cards with JPMorgan Chase. The legislators are concerned about the number of foreclosures in the county, and noted that both banks have a significant number of area homes on the delinquency list. The proclamation states that Bank of America has 465 delinquencies in the region and JP Morgan has 316 area homes in danger of foreclosure. The proclamation also says the banks have "demonstrated a lack of willingness to engage in good-faith efforts" to modify loans and help people keep their homes. The effort, headed by county legislators Norma Chapman, Doug Bullock and Timothy Nichols, is part of a statewide campaign by NY Communities for Change."
[from "Albany County Legislators Want to Close Bank of America, JPMorgan Accounts" June 10th
http://www.bizjournals.com/albany/print-edition/2011/06/10/albany-county-legislators-want-to.html ]
[Feb. must-read on all this-- "Watch Us Move Our Millions" by Rebecca Leisher (in Yes! magazine):
http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/9-strategies-to-end-corporate-rule/watch-us-move-our-millions ]
Pass it on!...
Joel
845-444-0599/876-2488
joeltyner@earthlink.net
http://www.JoelforCongress.org
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel (238 there!)
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[text here of Tyner/Doxsey resolution; more co-sponsors needed; scroll down below for documentation!]
WHEREAS, Dutchess County now has $50 million accounts each with Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo- banks widely reported as responsible for mortgage fraud and our economic collapse, and
WHEREAS, former Dutchess County Executive William Steinhaus sent our County Legislature a letter December 15th stating that, "Foreclosure rates in Dutchess County are at record numbers; there are a total of over 4,000 foreclosures in Dutchess over just the last three-year period," and currently in Dutchess County there are 414 home bankruptcy listings, 98 short sales, 61 foreclosures, 43 preforeclosures, and 11 sheriff sales at Foreclosures.com, and
WHEREAS, last June 25 members of the Albany County Legislature signed a proclamation calling for the county to pull its $90 million account from Bank of America and to discontinue procurement cards with JPMorgan Chase because at that time Bank of America had 465 delinquencies in the region and JP Morgan had 316 area homes in danger of foreclosure, and those banks had "demonstrated a lack of willingness to engage in good-faith efforts" to modify loans and help people keep their homes, as here in Dutchess County; several months later Albany County's $90 million account with Bank of America was closed, and
WHEREAS, the municipal boards of Hempstead, Freeport, and Ithaca have all voted for the same reason over the last year to divest from irresponsible financial institutions such as Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo; even the Northern Dutchess Alliance's "Blueprint for Economic Development" strongly recommended holding local financial institutions more publicly accountable for their commitment/investment (or lack thereof) in our local communities, and
WHEREAS, last year the City of San Jose moved nearly $1 billion from Bank of America because of the bank's high record of home foreclosures; City Council members linked foreclosures to lost tax revenues and cuts to jobs and services, and urged other U.S. cities to follow San Jose's example, and last November the Seattle City Council unanimously passed a resolution to review its banking and investment practices "to ensure that public funds are invested in responsible financial institutions that support our community," and
WHEREAS, officials in Portland, Oregon, Los Angeles, and New York City are looking to follow as well, and congregations in the California interfaith coalition LA Voice vowed to divest $2 million from Wells Fargo and Bank of America, ending a 200-year relationship with the big banks; the Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in East San Jose, Calif., pulled $3 million out of Bank of America and reinvested the funds into Micro Branch, a division of Self-Help Federal Credit Union designed to assist underserved communities, and therefore be it
RESOLVED, that the Dutchess County Legislature requests that the Dutchess County Commissioner of Finance divest Dutchess County funds from Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, and Wells Fargo, thereby ending the current $150,000,000 worth of county funds kept in those financial institutions, and find more responsible banks to deposit those monies, and be it further
RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be sent to the Dutchess County Executive and the Dutchess County Commissioner of Finance.
##############################################
Supporting documentation:
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Executive Order No. 2, 2011
Dated: October 17, 2011
[signed by Dutchess County Executive William Steinhaus]
Pursuant to Section 3.02 (g) of the Dutchess County Charter, I hereby designate the following banks and trust companies for the deposit of moneys received by the Commissioner of Finance at the maximum amount set forth after the name of each bank or trust company:
HSBC Bank USA, N.A. Poughkeepsie, NY................$50,000,000
JP Morgan Chase Poughkeepsie, NY........................$50,000,000
Bank of America, Poughkeepsie, NY..........................$50,000,000
Wells Fargo (formerly Wachovia Bank, N.A.)
Poughkeepsie, NY.........................................................$50,000,000
Key Bank of New York, N.A., Poughkeepsie, NY.....$20,000,000
Bank of Millbrook, Millbrook, NY...................................$5,000,000
(merged with Stissing National Bank)
Manufacturers and Traders Trust Co. (M & T)..........$20,000,000
Poughkeepsie, NY
Orange County Trust Company, Fishkill, NY.............$5,000,000
Citizens Bank, Albany, NY..........................................$20,000,000
TD Bank, Poughkeepsie, NY.....................................$50,000,000
Citibank NA, Harrison, NY.........................................$50,000,000
Pursuant to Section 11 of the General Municipal Law, the Dutchess County Commissioner of Finance is authorized to invest in time deposit accounts, certificates of deposit or repurchase agreements of the above designated depositories or repurchase agreements of the Merrill Lynch Flexicash Program.
Pursuant to Section 212 of the County Law, the interest received on moneys deposited in time deposit accounts, certificates of deposit, or repurchase agreements of the above designated depositories shall be the prevailing rate paid by such designated depository, payable on such dates as agreed upon between the depository and the Dutchess County Commissioner of Finance.
This Executive Order No. 2 of 2011 supersedes Executive Order No. 1 of 2011 issued January 2, 2011.
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Two Reasons Why Dutchess County Should Divest from Bank of America:
"Bank Excuses on Foreclosure Growing Stale" by Michael Powell (Nov. 14th)
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/15/nyregion/patience-grows-thin-for-banks-foreclosure-excuses.html
"Eric Schneiderman Is A Big Thorn In Bank of America's Side" [Forbes Aug. 16th]
http://www.forbes.com/sites/halahtouryalai/2011/08/16/eric-schneiderman-is-a-big-thorn-in-bank-of-americas-side/
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Two Reasons Why Dutchess County Should Divest from JP Morgan Chase:
"Allegations of Fraud Continue to Surround JP Morgan Chase's Foreclosure Processes" Dec. 5th
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/12/prweb9016844.htm
"Her Bank Got Enough Help When It Was in Trouble. She Didn't." by Michael Powell Sept. 12th
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/13/nyregion/jpmorgan-chase-got-us-help-but-mortgage-holders-did-not.html
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Two Reasons Why Dutchess County Should Divest from Wells Fargo:
"DoJ Civil Rights Division Investigating Wells Fargo for Mortgage Fraud" by David Dayen July 27, 2011
http://news.firedoglake.com/2011/07/27/doj-civil-rights-division-investigating-wells-fargo-for-mortgage-fraud/
"Wells Fargo Settles Mortgage Abuse Lawsuit For $85 Million" by Chris Rugaber/Derek Kravitz July 20
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/20/wells-fargo-settlement-mortgage-abuse_n_905054.html
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http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/9-strategies-to-end-corporate-rule/watch-us-move-our-millions
Watch Us Move Our Millions
Cities, churches, and colleges take steps to move their money home.
by Rebecca Leisher
posted Feb 01, 2012
Since the big corporate banks crashed the economy in 2008, they've been rewarded with bailouts, tax breaks, and bonuses, while American workers lose jobs and homes. Little wonder that many Americans-and now, institutions and local governments-have been closing their accounts at big corporate banks and transferring their money to community banks and credit unions. The idea is to send a strong message about responsibility to government and Wall Street, while supporting institutions that genuinely stimulate local economies.
Bank Transfer Day was publicized over five weeks, largely through social networks. In that period, credit unions received an estimated $4.5 billion in new deposits transferred from banks, according to the Credit Union National Association.
Encouraged by the popularity of the "Move Your Money" campaign, citizens are calling for institutions to be accountable and "Move Our Money." A number of schools, churches, and local governments across the country are transferring large sums, or at least considering it, in what looks like the beginning of a broad movement to invest in local economies instead of Wall Street.
Last year the city of San Jose moved nearly $1 billion from Bank of America because of the bank's high record of home foreclosures. City Council members linked foreclosures to lost tax revenues and cuts to jobs and services, and urged other U.S. cities to follow San Jose's example. More recently, in November 2011, the Seattle City Council responded to the Occupy movement by unanimously passing a resolution to review its banking and investment practices "to ensure that public funds are invested in responsible financial institutions that support our community." Officials in Portland, Ore., Los Angeles, and New York City are discussing proposals that address how and where city funds are invested.
Massachusetts launched the Small Business Banking Partnership initiative last year to leverage small business loans and has already deposited $106 million in state reserve funds into community banks.
Student activists and the Responsible Endowments Coalition are urging colleges and universities-some of which have assets comparable to those of a town or city-to move at least a portion of their endowments from Wall Street. The Peralta Community Colleges District in California, with an annual budget of $140 million, has done just that. The district's board of trustees voted unanimously in November to move its assets into community banks and credit unions.
A Separation of Church and Bank
Video: After Bank of America foreclosed on thousands of homes
in their San Jose parish, the members of this Catholic
church bid it goodbye-
and took $3 million with them.
Churches and faith organizations are moving their money too. Congregations in the California interfaith coalition LA Voice vowed to divest $2 million from Wells Fargo and Bank of America, ending a 200-year relationship with the big banks. The Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in East San Jose, Calif., pulled $3 million out of Bank of America and reinvested the funds into Micro Branch, a division of Self-Help Federal Credit Union designed to assist underserved communities.
Moving money is most effective where banking practices and investments are transparent. Oregon Banks Local represents small business, family farms, and community banks. It offers a website tool that ranks local banks and credit unions on criteria like headquarters location, jobs created, and extent of local investment to show which financial institutions truly serve local communities.
"People from all walks of life are angry at the banks," says Ilana Berger, co-director of The New Bottom Line, a national campaign that promotes moving money from Wall Street. But the broad appeal of this grassroots movement toward financial reform is based on more than anger or strategy. "It's a way to move our money to follow our values," says Berger. "It's an opportunity to really protest against the banks, but also a way to show what we want them to be."
Rebecca Leisher wrote this article for 9 Strategies to End Corporate Rule, the Spring 2012 issue of YES! Magazine. Rebecca is a freelance writer and former YES! intern.
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http://www.yesmagazine.org/new-economy/a-separation-of-church-and-bank
Big News on Bank Transfers
The Occupy effect? In the last 3 months, Americans switched banks at three times the normal rate.
by Brooke Jarvis
posted Feb 03, 2012
Two summers ago, at the U.S. Social Forum, I attended a panel discussion about ways to expand the use of credit unions as alternatives to the "too big to fail" banks whose risky investments had helped tank the economy. Each of the speakers-people involved in credit union leadership or advocacy-expressed confusion and frustration that they hadn't already seen a post-crisis shift away from corporate banks and toward credit unions (which have the advantages of being not-for-profit, owned and governed by their depositors, far more likely than big banks to lend to small businesses, and not responsible for any global economic meltdowns).
It seemed that even as Americans were angry with Big Finance, they didn't make the connection to their personal accounts.
In the last 90 days, Americans changed banking providers at three times the normal rate, with 5.6 million people moving their money to a different bank.
Fast forward to last fall-when Occupy Wall Street was in full swing and activists were mobilizing around Bank Transfer Day, an effort to get customers to leave their Wall Street banks-and it seemed everybody was making the connection. Suddenly I was overhearing conversations on the ferry, on the bus, on the soccer field. People kept saying, "I really should have done this a long time ago, but I'm switching from Bank of America [or Chase, or Wells Fargo]. What bank do you use?" Local credit unions and community banks started staying open for extra hours to accommodate the rush of new customers. One morning in November, at my own credit union, I overheard a man explaining to the teller that he was considering becoming a member-but first he wanted to know if his money would be invested in mortgage-backed securities or credit default swaps.
This change, it turns out, was much more than anecdotal. A new analysis from the firm Javelin Strategy and Research found that, in the last 90 days, Americans changed banking providers at three times the normal rate, with 5.6 million people moving their money to a different bank.
Bank Transfer Day wasn't the first major effort to get people to ditch Wall Street banks, but it was the first to have this level of impact. Arianna Huffington spearheaded a 2010 mobilization, the Move Your Money Project, to move customers to community banks ("Our money has been used to make the system worse-what if we used it to make the system better?" she wrote). While the project gained a fair amount of interest, Javelin reports that the actual bank defections it prompted failed to register on its surveys.
So why was 2011's exodus so much bigger? Eleven percent of those who moved their money-some 610,000 people-reported that they did so directly because of Occupy Wall Street and Bank Transfer Day. The Occupy movement helped bring corporate power to the forefront of national discourse; Bank Transfer Day offered a clear, practical way for people to send a message-a chance to turn the mundane question of bank choice into a stance about their personal economic values.
Move Your Money and Save
Big banks don't just undermine local economies-they're bad for your wallet, too.
Then, just as the Occupy movement-and the media scrutiny it prompted-got more Americans thinking critically about the role of big banks in their lives, Bank of America announced a new monthly fee on debit card use. BofA became an instant poster child for out-of-control corporate greed, with hundreds of thousands of people signing petitions against the fee or pledging to close their accounts. President Obama condemned it; a Fox Business anchor cut up her card on the air. Eventually, Bank of America pulled the idea, but not before helping to confirm, for millions of Americans, the Occupy movement's charges that Wall Street banks operate by putting profits before public good-as they did with the practices that caused the financial crisis.
"It's just a $5 fee, but it really is symbolic of so much more," Norma Garcia, of the advocacy group Consumers Union, told the Washington Post. In the end, it helped launch Bank Transfer Day to new heights: 26 percent of those who changed banks cited excessive fees at their current institution.
They were surprised they hadn't already seen a post-crisis shift away from corporate banks and toward credit unions (which have the advantages of being not-for-profit, owned and governed by their depositors, far more likely than big banks to lend to small businesses, and not responsible for any global economic meltdowns).
Fees, of course, are just one of many reasons to switch to a credit union (though there's an interesting history-very much related to the deeper problems of corporate banks-that explains why credit unions and community banks tend to have lower fees). Still, the Bank of America backlash was a significant reminder, to the finance industry as well as to consumers, that giant banks aren't the only option-and that there are a variety of advantages to being mindful about what we support with our investments.
Indeed, the bank transfer push doesn't seem to be losing momentum, as large institutional accounts-including cities, universities, and churches-continue to join the bandwagon. San Jose, Calif. moved $1 billion from Bank of America; just this week, Berkeley announced a desire to move its reserves from Wells Fargo to local credit unions; and proposals are under consideration in Portland, Los Angeles, and New York City.
stand with CWA and IBEW and the 99% against Verizon/corporate greed!...
[CWA's John O'Malley asked me over the weekend to come out to and/or speak at this today; I'm going!...(I walked for four days off and on last fall during CWA walk from Albany to NYC)...Joel (444-0599)]
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From http://cwa1120.org/index.cfm?zone=/unionactive/view_article.cfm&HomeID=238522 ...
Rally Against Corporate Greed
Updated On: Mar 09, 2012 (13:08:00)
What: Rally for good jobs in our communities and taking a stand against corporate greed
When: Thursday, March 22 - 4-7PM
Where: RT9 & Merritt BLVD, Fishkill NY. In front of Verizon Wireless, across the street from Wal-Mart
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[here below-- letter I sent to my 24 colleagues in our County Legislature earlier today; follow up, folks!]
From: Joel Tyner
To: countylegislators@co.dutchess.ny.us
Subject: Colleagues-- let's stand in solidarity today with our CWA and IBEW brothers and sisters...
Hi all...
Today is a national day of action for Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers-- standing up to Verizon's untenable greed and cruelty to workers.
Verizon has made tens of billions in profits and its top executives walked away with $283 million in the last four years. But when it comes to the 45,000 workers who made Verizon's success possible, suddenly the company cries broke. Verizon has sent thousands of American jobs overseas and wants to outsource even more jobs, gut pensions, charge current and retired employees thousands of dollars more for health benefits, and cut disability benefits for workers injured during their jobs.
Fact: The number of call-center employees in the U.S. dropped from 5.2 million in 2006 to 4.7 million in 2010. Many of those half-million jobs no doubt went to India and the Philippines, the two countries with the largest call-center industries.
Introduced just before the New Year by Rep. Tim Bishop (D-NY) and Rep. Dave McKinley (R-WV), the bipartisan U.S. Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act, supported by many Republicans (Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick [R, PA-8], Rep. Michael Grimm [R, NY-13], Rep. Frank LoBiondo [R, NJ-2], Rep. Patrick Meehan [R, PA-7], Rep. Joseph Pitts [R, PA-16]) and over 80 Democrats, would ensure that U.S. consumers are told the location of the call center to which they are speaking and would provide the consumer the right to transfer their call to a U.S. customer service agent, if preferred.
Additionally, this legislation would create a 'bad actors' list of U.S companies that make a practice of sending U.S. jobs overseas. In the past Sen. Chuck Schumer has proposed an excise tax on companies that outsource their call-center jobs. State level bills containing similar provisions have been introduced in legislatures in Florida, Arizona and Maryland respectively, Collins said, and lawmakers in more states are considering the same at this time.
Please let me know as soon as possible if you'd like to co-sponsor a resolution or letter on this, k?
Joel
444-0599
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From http://www.StopVerizonGreed.com ...(see http://www.UnityatVerizon.com )...
VERIZON DAY OF ACTION: MARCH 22
Verizon has made tens of billions in profits and its top executives walked away with $283 million in the last four years. But when it comes to the 45,000 workers who made Verizon's success possible, suddenly the company cries broke.
Verizon has sent thousands of American jobs overseas and wants to outsource even more jobs, gut pensions, charge current and retired employees thousands of dollars more for health benefits, and cut disability benefits for workers injured during their jobs.
On March 22, CWA and IBEW workers and thousands of others will be rallying around the country to support good jobs and the U.S. Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act.
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http://www.cwa-union.org/news/entry/number_of_co-sponsors_on_us_call_center_worker_and_consumer_protection_act_
NUMBER OF CO-SPONSORS ON "US CALL CENTER WORKER AND CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT" GROWS TO 69
Mar 1, 2012
Momentum Continues To Grow Behind Legislation That Protects American Consumers & Strengthens American Jobs - State Legislatures Now Jumping On Board
WASHINGTON, DC - Bi-partisan support on Capitol Hill for legislation that bans federal grants or guaranteed loans to American companies that move call center jobs from the U.S. overseas grew to over five dozen members of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) announced today.
Over 40 members of both parties signed on to the bill in the last four weeks alone, and more are expected when Congress reconvenes.
"Republicans and Democrats alike understand this bill is a dose of bi-partisan common sense at a time when such measures are in short supply in Washington," said CWA Chief of Staff Ron Collins, who began his career in a Maryland-based Verizon call center.
Introduced just before the New Year by Rep. Tim Bishop (D-NY) and Rep. Dave McKinley (R-WV), the bill would also ensure that U.S. consumers are told the location of the call center to which they are speaking and would provide the consumer the right to transfer their call to a U.S. customer service agent, if preferred. Additionally, the legislation would create a 'bad actors' list of U.S companies that make a practice of sending U.S. jobs overseas.
State level bills containing similar provisions have been introduced in legislatures in Florida, Arizona and Maryland respectively, Collins said, and lawmakers in more states are considering the same at this time.
"Lawmakers of all stripes from around the country agree that there should be consequences for shipping good American jobs overseas while so many here at home are looking for work," Collins said. "They get the idea that only companies that create American jobs should get American taxpayer dollars."
CWA represents 700,000 workers nationally, including more than 150,000 customer service professionals.
For Immediate Release: March 1, 2012
Contact: Chuck Porcari or Liz Schilling at 202-434-1168
or cporcari@cwa-union.org or eschilling@cwa-union.org
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/21/anti-outsourcing-offshore-call-center-jobs_n_1371162.html
Dave Jamieson
dave.jamieson@huffingtonpost.com
Anti-Outsourcing Bills Would Punish Companies That Send Jobs Overseas
Posted: 03/21/2012 6:25 pm Updated: 03/21/2012 6:34 pm
WASHINGTON -- Following the lead of lawmakers on Capitol Hill, several states have proposed legislation that would punish American companies that relocate their customer call centers overseas by making the companies ineligible for government loans or contracts.
The state measures appear to be modeled on a federal bill introduced in the House of Representatives late last year that Democrats argue could slow the number of call-center jobs that have been heading to India and the Philippines for the past decade. Lawmakers in Arizona, Florida and New Jersey have all subsequently proposed similar bills.
Under the federal legislation, American companies that offshore their call-center jobs would lose their federal loan eligibility for a period of five years. The customer service representatives working in those company's foreign call centers would also have to disclose their locations to callers and offer to transfer the callers to U.S.-based representatives. If the law passes, the Department of Labor would maintain a public list of companies that plan to outsource those jobs overseas.
The Communications Workers of America, a union that represents 150,000 call-center workers and has been aggressively pushing the bills, says that the number of call-center employees in the U.S. dropped from 5.2 million in 2006 to 4.7 million in 2010.
Many of those half-million jobs no doubt went to India and the Philippines, the two countries with the largest call-center industries. The federal proposal has caught the attention of those governments, with both Indian and Filipino officials suggesting they would dispatch lobbying teams to Washington.
Although lobbying reports on the bill are not available yet, Rep. Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday that the Filipino and Indian governments had undertaken an "extraordinary lobbying effort" on it. "What it says to me, if U.S. call center jobs going offshore is that big a component of the Filipino or Indian economy, then we're losing a ton of jobs over there. If it's important to their economy then it's important to ours."
The federal proposal has strong support on the left, with 83 Democratic co-sponsors, compared with six Republicans in the GOP-controlled House. Many lawmakers on the right would no doubt dislike the bill's protectionist measures, as would the business community at large. Similar bills have failed in the past, including a 2010 one put forth by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) that would have put an excise tax on companies that outsource their call-center jobs.
The CWA claims that in addition to discouraging outsourcing, the bill would protect American consumers. The union recently produced a report that argues that foreign call centers are more prone to security breaches with customers' personal information than their American counterparts.
A bill that recently passed the Florida state senate would require that companies with state contracts have their call centers in the U.S., but the measure was held up in the state House of Representatives. A similar bill in New Jersey would bar companies from state tax breaks and subsidies if they send their call center jobs overseas. The state Assembly passed that bill last week, though the state Senate hasn't taken it up yet.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/07/overseas-call-centers-outsourcing-bill_n_1135147.html
Dave Jamieson
dave.jamieson@huffingtonpost.com
Overseas Call Centers Target Of Anti-Outsourcing Bill
First Posted: 12/07/11 06:04 PM ET Updated: 12/08/11 08:13 AM ET
WASHINGTON -- Saying they hope to stem the tide of jobs heading overseas, legislators introduced a bipartisan bill Wednesday in the House that would punish American corporations for offshoring their telephone call centers, making such companies ineligible for grants or guaranteed loans from the federal government.
Introduced by Rep. Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.) and Rep. David McKinley (R-W.Va.), the protectionist legislation would also put some aggressive mandates on call-center operations. Not only would customer service representatives working overseas for U.S. corporations have to disclose their locations upon request, they would also have to offer callers the option of being transferred to call centers back in America.
"Outsourcing is one of the scourges of our economy and one of the reasons we are struggling to knock down the unemployment rate and reduce the number of Americans who are out of work," Bishop said in a conference call with reporters. "We can't prohibit it, but we can certainly discourage it."
Although some call-center jobs have trickled back into the U.S. in recent years, the long-term trend has shown thousands of American-based customer service positions being outsourced to India and the Philippines, where workers come considerably cheaper. The Philippines' call-center industry recently surpassed India's as the largest in the world, according to a report in USA Today.
The call-center bill has strong backing from the Communications Workers of America, a union representing 700,000 workers, more than 150,000 of whom are customer service reps. Ron Collins, CWA's chief of staff, said that Americans have been losing decent-paying call-center jobs so that large corporations can save on labor costs. He praised AT&T for its decision to bring 5,000 customer service jobs back to the U.S. as part of its merger with T-Mobile.
"When I talk about this, I talk about it from experience," said Collins, a former Verizon call-center worker. "This bill is a very important step forward -- for jobs, for workers and for customers."
In addition to scuttling any grants or guaranteed loans for a period of five years, the U.S. Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act would require that companies that are about to offshore call-center jobs notify the Labor Department 120 days before they do so. The companies would then be put on a public list. Bishop said the law would apply to businesses in all industries.
Such a bill is unlikely to garner strong support from anti-protectionist, free-trade GOP members of Congress, but the inclusion of the call-center rules adds an interesting wrinkle. Given the widespread frustration of customers who end up on long calls with agents overseas, plenty of constituents, Republican and Democrat alike, would probably appreciate the option of dealing more regularly with customer service reps based in America.
"With Rep. McKinley as my primary Republican co-sponsor, I'm very hopeful he can bring a good number of his colleagues to the table," Bishop said. "It's hard to defend the practice. It's hard to say we would rather employ someone in the Philippines than in the U.S."
To bolster their case, the CWA said it plans to release a report next week that shows that consumer fraud and identity theft is higher at call centers abroad than in the U.S.
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http://www.cwa-union.org/news/entry/cwa_study_exposes_overseas_call_center_risks_to_personal_information
CWA STUDY EXPOSES OVERSEAS CALL CENTER RISKS TO PERSONAL INFORMATION
Dec 15, 2011
Contact: Candice Johnson cjohnson@cwa-union.org or Chuck Porcari cporcari@cwa-union.org at 202-434-1368
CWA Study Exposes Overseas Call Center Issues That Threaten American Consumers' Personal Information
Washington, D.C. - Thursday, December 15, 2011 - The Communications Workers of America today released a sobering report detailing the linkage between the off-shoring of call center jobs and a range of serious negative effects on U.S. consumers and job seekers, including placing consumers' personal information at risk.
The report details specific instances of fraud directly related to employees at overseas call centers, the lack of national legal safeguards to protect personal information in these locations, the loss of Constitutional protection for consumers' personal data once it leaves U.S. shores and the recent trend of "sub-outsourcing" former Indian-based call center work to even cheaper foreign labor markets.
The report further underscores the importance of the bi-partisan legislation introduced in Congress last week that would ban taxpayer dollars in the form of federal grants or guaranteed loans to American companies that move call center jobs overseas.
"If American companies insist on taking American jobs overseas, American taxpayers should not be subsidizing corporate greed," said CWA Chief of Staff Ron Collins. "This report spotlights not only the risks of a consumer's personal information floating around foreign call centers, but the fact that a U.S. citizen's constitutional rights preventing the illegal search and seizure of his or her data evaporate once it leaves the country."
Collins noted that though India passed new data privacy laws this year, the Indian government specifically exempted outsourcing companies from having to comply.
"Even worse, in the Philippines, where a significant amount of Indian work has been sub-outsourced, there are virtually no data protection laws, including data breach notification laws," Collins said.
Key findings of the report include:
- When a U.S. customer's financial information is sent overseas, it loses the protections of the 4th Amendment to the Constitution. As long as an individual's data is not specifically "targeted," the data can be collected and analyzed by U.S. federal agencies without a warrant.
- The documented security hazards are in addition to the damage caused to individuals and communities in the United States by the movement of local call center jobs overseas, off-shoring that often comes after taxpayer-funded dollars and other incentives are heaped upon the corporation.
- As of this year, the Philippines surpassed India as the top destination for U.S. companies off-shoring call center jobs. American companies also have opened call centers in countries including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, China and Mexico.
- Americans' personal data also is at risk in foreign call centers in the relative difficulty in providing background checks on employees. Many foreign nations do not maintain central criminal databases and do not have standard identifiers such as the U.S. Social Security number. As a result, proper background checks are expensive, with one estimate putting the cost at up to $1,000 per employee.
The "U.S. Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act," co-sponsored by Rep. Tim Bishop (D-NY) and Rep. Dave McKinley (R-WV) and introduced December 8, would also require call center employees to disclose their location to U.S. consumers and transfer that call to a U.S.-based center if requested by the consumer, as well as require that a list of companies that off-shore their call center work be made available to the public.
"Huge corporations are pocketing U.S. taxpayer dollars, then taking call center jobs overseas, leaving it up to foreign laws and governments to police and catch criminals who want to steal from American consumers," Collins said. "All the while, people may not even know their personal data is entrusted to someone on the other side of the ocean."
Link to full report:
http://files.cwa-union.org/national/News/Misc/20111215-offshore-callcenter.pdf
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From http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-h3596/show ...
H.R.3596 - United States Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act
To require a publicly available a list of all employers that relocate a call center overseas and to make such companies ineligible for Federal grants or guaranteed loans and to require disclosure of the physical location of business agents engaging in customer service communications.
* Short: United States Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act as introduced.
* Official: To require a publicly available a list of all employers that relocate a call center overseas and to make such companies ineligible for Federal grants or guaranteed loans and to require disclosure of the physical location of business agents engaging in customer service communications. as introduced.
Sponsor
Representative
Timothy Bishop
D-NY
Co-Sponsors
* Rep. Gary Ackerman [D, NY-5]
Added January 23, 2012
* Rep. Jason Altmire [D, PA-4]
Added March 06, 2012
* Rep. Joe Baca [D, CA-43]
Added January 31, 2012
* Rep. Howard Berman [D, CA-28]
Added February 16, 2012
* Rep. Leonard Boswell [D, IA-3]
Added February 29, 2012
* Rep. Bruce Braley [D, IA-1]
Added February 28, 2012
* Rep. Corrine Brown [D, FL-3]
Added February 14, 2012
* Rep. Michael Capuano [D, MA-8]
Added February 28, 2012
* Rep. Russ Carnahan [D, MO-3]
Added March 19, 2012
* Rep. Ben Chandler [D, KY-6]
Added March 19, 2012
* Rep. Yvette Clarke [D, NY-11]
Added January 17, 2012
* Rep. William Clay [D, MO-1]
Added February 01, 2012
* Rep. Emanuel Cleaver [D, MO-5]
Added February 02, 2012
* Rep. Steve Cohen [D, TN-9]
Added March 19, 2012
* Rep. Joe Courtney [D, CT-2]
Added February 28, 2012
* Rep. Mark Critz [D, PA-12]
Added February 01, 2012
* Rep. Elijah Cummings [D, MD-7]
Added March 06, 2012
* Rep. Rosa DeLauro [D, CT-3]
Added March 19, 2012
* Rep. John Dingell [D, MI-15]
Added January 31, 2012
* Rep. Lloyd Doggett [D, TX-25]
Added February 28, 2012
* Rep. Michael Doyle [D, PA-14]
Added February 01, 2012
* Rep. Donna Edwards [D, MD-4]
Added March 01, 2012
* Rep. Eliot Engel [D, NY-17]
Added February 02, 2012
* Rep. Sam Farr [D, CA-17]
Added February 06, 2012
* Rep. Chaka Fattah [D, PA-2]
Added March 19, 2012
* Rep. Bob Filner [D, CA-51]
Added January 31, 2012
* Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick [R, PA-8]
Added March 19, 2012
* Rep. Barney Frank [D, MA-4]
Added March 19, 2012
* Rep. Raymond Green [D, TX-29]
Added December 07, 2011
* Rep. Raul Grijalva [D, AZ-7]
Added February 01, 2012
* Rep. Michael Grimm [R, NY-13]
Added December 14, 2011
* Rep. Janice Hahn [D, CA-36]
Added February 02, 2012
* Rep. Martin Heinrich [D, NM-1]
Added February 14, 2012
* Rep. Brian Higgins [D, NY-27]
Added January 17, 2012
* Rep. Maurice Hinchey [D, NY-22]
Added January 17, 2012
* Rep. Mazie Hirono [D, HI-2]
Added March 06, 2012
* Rep. Kathleen Hochul [D, NY-26]
Added February 02, 2012
* Rep. Tim Holden [D, PA-17]
Added February 01, 2012
* Rep. Rush Holt [D, NJ-12]
Added February 02, 2012
* Rep. Michael Honda [D, CA-15]
Added February 16, 2012
* Rep. Steve Israel [D, NY-2]
Added March 06, 2012
* Rep. Marcy Kaptur [D, OH-9]
Added February 01, 2012
* Rep. William Keating [D, MA-10]
Added January 17, 2012
* Rep. Dale Kildee [D, MI-5]
Added February 01, 2012
* Rep. Larry Kissell [D, NC-8]
Added January 31, 2012
* Rep. Dennis Kucinich [D, OH-10]
Added February 14, 2012
* Rep. Daniel Lipinski [D, IL-3]
Added February 06, 2012
* Rep. Frank LoBiondo [R, NJ-2]
Added January 17, 2012
* Rep. David Loebsack [D, IA-2]
Added March 01, 2012
* Rep. Nita Lowey [D, NY-18]
Added January 17, 2012
* Rep. Ben Luján [D, NM-3]
Added February 01, 2012
* Rep. Carolyn Maloney [D, NY-14]
Added February 01, 2012
* Rep. Betty McCollum [D, MN-4]
Added March 20, 2012
* Rep. James McDermott [D, WA-7]
Added February 01, 2012
* Rep. James McGovern [D, MA-3]
Added March 19, 2012
* Rep. Mike McIntyre [D, NC-7]
Added March 20, 2012
* Rep. David McKinley [R, WV-1]
Added December 07, 2011
* Rep. Patrick Meehan [R, PA-7]
Added February 14, 2012
* Rep. Michael Michaud [D, ME-2]
Added December 07, 2011
* Rep. James Moran [D, VA-8]
Added February 14, 2012
* Rep. Christopher Murphy [D, CT-5]
Added March 19, 2012
* Rep. Jerrold Nadler [D, NY-8]
Added January 23, 2012
* Rep. Grace Napolitano [D, CA-38]
Added February 28, 2012
* Rep. John Olver [D, MA-1]
Added February 02, 2012
* Rep. William Owens [D, NY-23]
Added January 17, 2012
* Rep. Edward Pastor [D, AZ-4]
Added January 17, 2012
* Rep. Ed Perlmutter [D, CO-7]
Added March 06, 2012
* Rep. Gary Peters [D, MI-9]
Added February 08, 2012
* Rep. Chellie Pingree [D, ME-1]
Added January 31, 2012
* Rep. Joseph Pitts [R, PA-16]
Added March 01, 2012
* Rep. Nick Rahall [D, WV-3]
Added January 17, 2012
* Rep. Laura Richardson [D, CA-37]
Added March 06, 2012
* Rep. Steven Rothman [D, NJ-9]
Added January 31, 2012
* Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger [D, MD-2]
Added March 19, 2012
* Rep. Bobby Rush [D, IL-1]
Added February 08, 2012
* Rep. Loretta Sanchez [D, CA-47]
Added February 28, 2012
* Rep. Linda Sánchez [D, CA-39]
Added January 23, 2012
* Rep. John Sarbanes [D, MD-3]
Added February 17, 2012
* Rep. Adam Schiff [D, CA-29]
Added February 06, 2012
* Rep. José Serrano [D, NY-16]
Added February 01, 2012
* Rep. Brad Sherman [D, CA-27]
Added January 17, 2012
* Rep. Louise Slaughter [D, NY-28]
Added January 24, 2012
* Rep. Fortney Stark [D, CA-13]
Added February 07, 2012
* Rep. Betty Sutton [D, OH-13]
Added February 01, 2012
* Rep. John Tierney [D, MA-6]
Added February 16, 2012
* Rep. Paul Tonko [D, NY-21]
Added February 02, 2012
* Rep. Nydia Velázquez [D, NY-12]
Added January 31, 2012
* Rep. Peter Welch [D, VT-0]
Added February 14, 2012
* Rep. Lynn Woolsey [D, CA-6]
Added February 01, 2012
* Rep. John Yarmuth [D, KY-3]
Added March 19, 2012
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From: Ron Deutsch
Subject: Fwd: Stand with Verizon Workers - Today!
Date: Mar 22, 2012
Sent from my iPhone
Begin forwarded message:
From: "Labor-Religion Coalition of NYS"
Date: March 22, 2012 8:18:09 AM EDT
To: mkd67@aol.com
Subject: Stand with Verizon Workers - Today!
Reply-To: "Labor-Religion Coalition of NYS"
Stand with Verizon Workers for Today's National Day of Action!
Verizon has made tens of billions in profits and its top executives walked
away with $283 million in the last four years. But when it comes to the 45,000 workers who made Verizon's success possible, the company cries broke. Join the Labor-Religion Coalition of New York State and faith, labor and community allies to call for a fair contract today.
Locations/times:
Binghamton at 12PM
64 Henry Street, Binghamton, NY
Buffalo at 5PM
65 Franklin Street, Buffalo, NY
Albany at 5PM
4 Wembley Court, Albany, NY
Syracuse at 5PM
South State Street, Syracuse, NY
Utica at 5PM
280 Genesee Street, Utica, NY
Patchogue at 5 pm
501 North Ocean Avenue, Patchogue, NY
New York at 6PM
140 West St., New York, NY
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From http://cwa1120.org/index.cfm?zone=/unionactive/view_article.cfm&HomeID=238522 ...
Rally Against Corporate Greed
Updated On: Mar 09, 2012 (13:08:00)
What: Rally for good jobs in our communities and taking a stand against corporate greed
When: Thursday, March 22 - 4-7PM
Where: RT9 & Merritt BLVD, Fishkill NY. In front of Verizon Wireless, across the street from Wal-Mart
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[here below-- letter I sent to my 24 colleagues in our County Legislature earlier today; follow up, folks!]
From: Joel Tyner
To: countylegislators@co.dutchess.ny.us
Subject: Colleagues-- let's stand in solidarity today with our CWA and IBEW brothers and sisters...
Hi all...
Today is a national day of action for Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers-- standing up to Verizon's untenable greed and cruelty to workers.
Verizon has made tens of billions in profits and its top executives walked away with $283 million in the last four years. But when it comes to the 45,000 workers who made Verizon's success possible, suddenly the company cries broke. Verizon has sent thousands of American jobs overseas and wants to outsource even more jobs, gut pensions, charge current and retired employees thousands of dollars more for health benefits, and cut disability benefits for workers injured during their jobs.
Fact: The number of call-center employees in the U.S. dropped from 5.2 million in 2006 to 4.7 million in 2010. Many of those half-million jobs no doubt went to India and the Philippines, the two countries with the largest call-center industries.
Introduced just before the New Year by Rep. Tim Bishop (D-NY) and Rep. Dave McKinley (R-WV), the bipartisan U.S. Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act, supported by many Republicans (Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick [R, PA-8], Rep. Michael Grimm [R, NY-13], Rep. Frank LoBiondo [R, NJ-2], Rep. Patrick Meehan [R, PA-7], Rep. Joseph Pitts [R, PA-16]) and over 80 Democrats, would ensure that U.S. consumers are told the location of the call center to which they are speaking and would provide the consumer the right to transfer their call to a U.S. customer service agent, if preferred.
Additionally, this legislation would create a 'bad actors' list of U.S companies that make a practice of sending U.S. jobs overseas. In the past Sen. Chuck Schumer has proposed an excise tax on companies that outsource their call-center jobs. State level bills containing similar provisions have been introduced in legislatures in Florida, Arizona and Maryland respectively, Collins said, and lawmakers in more states are considering the same at this time.
Please let me know as soon as possible if you'd like to co-sponsor a resolution or letter on this, k?
Joel
444-0599
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From http://www.StopVerizonGreed.com ...(see http://www.UnityatVerizon.com )...
VERIZON DAY OF ACTION: MARCH 22
Verizon has made tens of billions in profits and its top executives walked away with $283 million in the last four years. But when it comes to the 45,000 workers who made Verizon's success possible, suddenly the company cries broke.
Verizon has sent thousands of American jobs overseas and wants to outsource even more jobs, gut pensions, charge current and retired employees thousands of dollars more for health benefits, and cut disability benefits for workers injured during their jobs.
On March 22, CWA and IBEW workers and thousands of others will be rallying around the country to support good jobs and the U.S. Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act.
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http://www.cwa-union.org/news/entry/number_of_co-sponsors_on_us_call_center_worker_and_consumer_protection_act_
NUMBER OF CO-SPONSORS ON "US CALL CENTER WORKER AND CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT" GROWS TO 69
Mar 1, 2012
Momentum Continues To Grow Behind Legislation That Protects American Consumers & Strengthens American Jobs - State Legislatures Now Jumping On Board
WASHINGTON, DC - Bi-partisan support on Capitol Hill for legislation that bans federal grants or guaranteed loans to American companies that move call center jobs from the U.S. overseas grew to over five dozen members of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) announced today.
Over 40 members of both parties signed on to the bill in the last four weeks alone, and more are expected when Congress reconvenes.
"Republicans and Democrats alike understand this bill is a dose of bi-partisan common sense at a time when such measures are in short supply in Washington," said CWA Chief of Staff Ron Collins, who began his career in a Maryland-based Verizon call center.
Introduced just before the New Year by Rep. Tim Bishop (D-NY) and Rep. Dave McKinley (R-WV), the bill would also ensure that U.S. consumers are told the location of the call center to which they are speaking and would provide the consumer the right to transfer their call to a U.S. customer service agent, if preferred. Additionally, the legislation would create a 'bad actors' list of U.S companies that make a practice of sending U.S. jobs overseas.
State level bills containing similar provisions have been introduced in legislatures in Florida, Arizona and Maryland respectively, Collins said, and lawmakers in more states are considering the same at this time.
"Lawmakers of all stripes from around the country agree that there should be consequences for shipping good American jobs overseas while so many here at home are looking for work," Collins said. "They get the idea that only companies that create American jobs should get American taxpayer dollars."
CWA represents 700,000 workers nationally, including more than 150,000 customer service professionals.
For Immediate Release: March 1, 2012
Contact: Chuck Porcari or Liz Schilling at 202-434-1168
or cporcari@cwa-union.org or eschilling@cwa-union.org
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/21/anti-outsourcing-offshore-call-center-jobs_n_1371162.html
Dave Jamieson
dave.jamieson@huffingtonpost.com
Anti-Outsourcing Bills Would Punish Companies That Send Jobs Overseas
Posted: 03/21/2012 6:25 pm Updated: 03/21/2012 6:34 pm
WASHINGTON -- Following the lead of lawmakers on Capitol Hill, several states have proposed legislation that would punish American companies that relocate their customer call centers overseas by making the companies ineligible for government loans or contracts.
The state measures appear to be modeled on a federal bill introduced in the House of Representatives late last year that Democrats argue could slow the number of call-center jobs that have been heading to India and the Philippines for the past decade. Lawmakers in Arizona, Florida and New Jersey have all subsequently proposed similar bills.
Under the federal legislation, American companies that offshore their call-center jobs would lose their federal loan eligibility for a period of five years. The customer service representatives working in those company's foreign call centers would also have to disclose their locations to callers and offer to transfer the callers to U.S.-based representatives. If the law passes, the Department of Labor would maintain a public list of companies that plan to outsource those jobs overseas.
The Communications Workers of America, a union that represents 150,000 call-center workers and has been aggressively pushing the bills, says that the number of call-center employees in the U.S. dropped from 5.2 million in 2006 to 4.7 million in 2010.
Many of those half-million jobs no doubt went to India and the Philippines, the two countries with the largest call-center industries. The federal proposal has caught the attention of those governments, with both Indian and Filipino officials suggesting they would dispatch lobbying teams to Washington.
Although lobbying reports on the bill are not available yet, Rep. Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday that the Filipino and Indian governments had undertaken an "extraordinary lobbying effort" on it. "What it says to me, if U.S. call center jobs going offshore is that big a component of the Filipino or Indian economy, then we're losing a ton of jobs over there. If it's important to their economy then it's important to ours."
The federal proposal has strong support on the left, with 83 Democratic co-sponsors, compared with six Republicans in the GOP-controlled House. Many lawmakers on the right would no doubt dislike the bill's protectionist measures, as would the business community at large. Similar bills have failed in the past, including a 2010 one put forth by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) that would have put an excise tax on companies that outsource their call-center jobs.
The CWA claims that in addition to discouraging outsourcing, the bill would protect American consumers. The union recently produced a report that argues that foreign call centers are more prone to security breaches with customers' personal information than their American counterparts.
A bill that recently passed the Florida state senate would require that companies with state contracts have their call centers in the U.S., but the measure was held up in the state House of Representatives. A similar bill in New Jersey would bar companies from state tax breaks and subsidies if they send their call center jobs overseas. The state Assembly passed that bill last week, though the state Senate hasn't taken it up yet.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/07/overseas-call-centers-outsourcing-bill_n_1135147.html
Dave Jamieson
dave.jamieson@huffingtonpost.com
Overseas Call Centers Target Of Anti-Outsourcing Bill
First Posted: 12/07/11 06:04 PM ET Updated: 12/08/11 08:13 AM ET
WASHINGTON -- Saying they hope to stem the tide of jobs heading overseas, legislators introduced a bipartisan bill Wednesday in the House that would punish American corporations for offshoring their telephone call centers, making such companies ineligible for grants or guaranteed loans from the federal government.
Introduced by Rep. Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.) and Rep. David McKinley (R-W.Va.), the protectionist legislation would also put some aggressive mandates on call-center operations. Not only would customer service representatives working overseas for U.S. corporations have to disclose their locations upon request, they would also have to offer callers the option of being transferred to call centers back in America.
"Outsourcing is one of the scourges of our economy and one of the reasons we are struggling to knock down the unemployment rate and reduce the number of Americans who are out of work," Bishop said in a conference call with reporters. "We can't prohibit it, but we can certainly discourage it."
Although some call-center jobs have trickled back into the U.S. in recent years, the long-term trend has shown thousands of American-based customer service positions being outsourced to India and the Philippines, where workers come considerably cheaper. The Philippines' call-center industry recently surpassed India's as the largest in the world, according to a report in USA Today.
The call-center bill has strong backing from the Communications Workers of America, a union representing 700,000 workers, more than 150,000 of whom are customer service reps. Ron Collins, CWA's chief of staff, said that Americans have been losing decent-paying call-center jobs so that large corporations can save on labor costs. He praised AT&T for its decision to bring 5,000 customer service jobs back to the U.S. as part of its merger with T-Mobile.
"When I talk about this, I talk about it from experience," said Collins, a former Verizon call-center worker. "This bill is a very important step forward -- for jobs, for workers and for customers."
In addition to scuttling any grants or guaranteed loans for a period of five years, the U.S. Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act would require that companies that are about to offshore call-center jobs notify the Labor Department 120 days before they do so. The companies would then be put on a public list. Bishop said the law would apply to businesses in all industries.
Such a bill is unlikely to garner strong support from anti-protectionist, free-trade GOP members of Congress, but the inclusion of the call-center rules adds an interesting wrinkle. Given the widespread frustration of customers who end up on long calls with agents overseas, plenty of constituents, Republican and Democrat alike, would probably appreciate the option of dealing more regularly with customer service reps based in America.
"With Rep. McKinley as my primary Republican co-sponsor, I'm very hopeful he can bring a good number of his colleagues to the table," Bishop said. "It's hard to defend the practice. It's hard to say we would rather employ someone in the Philippines than in the U.S."
To bolster their case, the CWA said it plans to release a report next week that shows that consumer fraud and identity theft is higher at call centers abroad than in the U.S.
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http://www.cwa-union.org/news/entry/cwa_study_exposes_overseas_call_center_risks_to_personal_information
CWA STUDY EXPOSES OVERSEAS CALL CENTER RISKS TO PERSONAL INFORMATION
Dec 15, 2011
Contact: Candice Johnson cjohnson@cwa-union.org or Chuck Porcari cporcari@cwa-union.org at 202-434-1368
CWA Study Exposes Overseas Call Center Issues That Threaten American Consumers' Personal Information
Washington, D.C. - Thursday, December 15, 2011 - The Communications Workers of America today released a sobering report detailing the linkage between the off-shoring of call center jobs and a range of serious negative effects on U.S. consumers and job seekers, including placing consumers' personal information at risk.
The report details specific instances of fraud directly related to employees at overseas call centers, the lack of national legal safeguards to protect personal information in these locations, the loss of Constitutional protection for consumers' personal data once it leaves U.S. shores and the recent trend of "sub-outsourcing" former Indian-based call center work to even cheaper foreign labor markets.
The report further underscores the importance of the bi-partisan legislation introduced in Congress last week that would ban taxpayer dollars in the form of federal grants or guaranteed loans to American companies that move call center jobs overseas.
"If American companies insist on taking American jobs overseas, American taxpayers should not be subsidizing corporate greed," said CWA Chief of Staff Ron Collins. "This report spotlights not only the risks of a consumer's personal information floating around foreign call centers, but the fact that a U.S. citizen's constitutional rights preventing the illegal search and seizure of his or her data evaporate once it leaves the country."
Collins noted that though India passed new data privacy laws this year, the Indian government specifically exempted outsourcing companies from having to comply.
"Even worse, in the Philippines, where a significant amount of Indian work has been sub-outsourced, there are virtually no data protection laws, including data breach notification laws," Collins said.
Key findings of the report include:
- When a U.S. customer's financial information is sent overseas, it loses the protections of the 4th Amendment to the Constitution. As long as an individual's data is not specifically "targeted," the data can be collected and analyzed by U.S. federal agencies without a warrant.
- The documented security hazards are in addition to the damage caused to individuals and communities in the United States by the movement of local call center jobs overseas, off-shoring that often comes after taxpayer-funded dollars and other incentives are heaped upon the corporation.
- As of this year, the Philippines surpassed India as the top destination for U.S. companies off-shoring call center jobs. American companies also have opened call centers in countries including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, China and Mexico.
- Americans' personal data also is at risk in foreign call centers in the relative difficulty in providing background checks on employees. Many foreign nations do not maintain central criminal databases and do not have standard identifiers such as the U.S. Social Security number. As a result, proper background checks are expensive, with one estimate putting the cost at up to $1,000 per employee.
The "U.S. Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act," co-sponsored by Rep. Tim Bishop (D-NY) and Rep. Dave McKinley (R-WV) and introduced December 8, would also require call center employees to disclose their location to U.S. consumers and transfer that call to a U.S.-based center if requested by the consumer, as well as require that a list of companies that off-shore their call center work be made available to the public.
"Huge corporations are pocketing U.S. taxpayer dollars, then taking call center jobs overseas, leaving it up to foreign laws and governments to police and catch criminals who want to steal from American consumers," Collins said. "All the while, people may not even know their personal data is entrusted to someone on the other side of the ocean."
Link to full report:
http://files.cwa-union.org/national/News/Misc/20111215-offshore-callcenter.pdf
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From http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-h3596/show ...
H.R.3596 - United States Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act
To require a publicly available a list of all employers that relocate a call center overseas and to make such companies ineligible for Federal grants or guaranteed loans and to require disclosure of the physical location of business agents engaging in customer service communications.
* Short: United States Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act as introduced.
* Official: To require a publicly available a list of all employers that relocate a call center overseas and to make such companies ineligible for Federal grants or guaranteed loans and to require disclosure of the physical location of business agents engaging in customer service communications. as introduced.
Sponsor
Representative
Timothy Bishop
D-NY
Co-Sponsors
* Rep. Gary Ackerman [D, NY-5]
Added January 23, 2012
* Rep. Jason Altmire [D, PA-4]
Added March 06, 2012
* Rep. Joe Baca [D, CA-43]
Added January 31, 2012
* Rep. Howard Berman [D, CA-28]
Added February 16, 2012
* Rep. Leonard Boswell [D, IA-3]
Added February 29, 2012
* Rep. Bruce Braley [D, IA-1]
Added February 28, 2012
* Rep. Corrine Brown [D, FL-3]
Added February 14, 2012
* Rep. Michael Capuano [D, MA-8]
Added February 28, 2012
* Rep. Russ Carnahan [D, MO-3]
Added March 19, 2012
* Rep. Ben Chandler [D, KY-6]
Added March 19, 2012
* Rep. Yvette Clarke [D, NY-11]
Added January 17, 2012
* Rep. William Clay [D, MO-1]
Added February 01, 2012
* Rep. Emanuel Cleaver [D, MO-5]
Added February 02, 2012
* Rep. Steve Cohen [D, TN-9]
Added March 19, 2012
* Rep. Joe Courtney [D, CT-2]
Added February 28, 2012
* Rep. Mark Critz [D, PA-12]
Added February 01, 2012
* Rep. Elijah Cummings [D, MD-7]
Added March 06, 2012
* Rep. Rosa DeLauro [D, CT-3]
Added March 19, 2012
* Rep. John Dingell [D, MI-15]
Added January 31, 2012
* Rep. Lloyd Doggett [D, TX-25]
Added February 28, 2012
* Rep. Michael Doyle [D, PA-14]
Added February 01, 2012
* Rep. Donna Edwards [D, MD-4]
Added March 01, 2012
* Rep. Eliot Engel [D, NY-17]
Added February 02, 2012
* Rep. Sam Farr [D, CA-17]
Added February 06, 2012
* Rep. Chaka Fattah [D, PA-2]
Added March 19, 2012
* Rep. Bob Filner [D, CA-51]
Added January 31, 2012
* Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick [R, PA-8]
Added March 19, 2012
* Rep. Barney Frank [D, MA-4]
Added March 19, 2012
* Rep. Raymond Green [D, TX-29]
Added December 07, 2011
* Rep. Raul Grijalva [D, AZ-7]
Added February 01, 2012
* Rep. Michael Grimm [R, NY-13]
Added December 14, 2011
* Rep. Janice Hahn [D, CA-36]
Added February 02, 2012
* Rep. Martin Heinrich [D, NM-1]
Added February 14, 2012
* Rep. Brian Higgins [D, NY-27]
Added January 17, 2012
* Rep. Maurice Hinchey [D, NY-22]
Added January 17, 2012
* Rep. Mazie Hirono [D, HI-2]
Added March 06, 2012
* Rep. Kathleen Hochul [D, NY-26]
Added February 02, 2012
* Rep. Tim Holden [D, PA-17]
Added February 01, 2012
* Rep. Rush Holt [D, NJ-12]
Added February 02, 2012
* Rep. Michael Honda [D, CA-15]
Added February 16, 2012
* Rep. Steve Israel [D, NY-2]
Added March 06, 2012
* Rep. Marcy Kaptur [D, OH-9]
Added February 01, 2012
* Rep. William Keating [D, MA-10]
Added January 17, 2012
* Rep. Dale Kildee [D, MI-5]
Added February 01, 2012
* Rep. Larry Kissell [D, NC-8]
Added January 31, 2012
* Rep. Dennis Kucinich [D, OH-10]
Added February 14, 2012
* Rep. Daniel Lipinski [D, IL-3]
Added February 06, 2012
* Rep. Frank LoBiondo [R, NJ-2]
Added January 17, 2012
* Rep. David Loebsack [D, IA-2]
Added March 01, 2012
* Rep. Nita Lowey [D, NY-18]
Added January 17, 2012
* Rep. Ben Luján [D, NM-3]
Added February 01, 2012
* Rep. Carolyn Maloney [D, NY-14]
Added February 01, 2012
* Rep. Betty McCollum [D, MN-4]
Added March 20, 2012
* Rep. James McDermott [D, WA-7]
Added February 01, 2012
* Rep. James McGovern [D, MA-3]
Added March 19, 2012
* Rep. Mike McIntyre [D, NC-7]
Added March 20, 2012
* Rep. David McKinley [R, WV-1]
Added December 07, 2011
* Rep. Patrick Meehan [R, PA-7]
Added February 14, 2012
* Rep. Michael Michaud [D, ME-2]
Added December 07, 2011
* Rep. James Moran [D, VA-8]
Added February 14, 2012
* Rep. Christopher Murphy [D, CT-5]
Added March 19, 2012
* Rep. Jerrold Nadler [D, NY-8]
Added January 23, 2012
* Rep. Grace Napolitano [D, CA-38]
Added February 28, 2012
* Rep. John Olver [D, MA-1]
Added February 02, 2012
* Rep. William Owens [D, NY-23]
Added January 17, 2012
* Rep. Edward Pastor [D, AZ-4]
Added January 17, 2012
* Rep. Ed Perlmutter [D, CO-7]
Added March 06, 2012
* Rep. Gary Peters [D, MI-9]
Added February 08, 2012
* Rep. Chellie Pingree [D, ME-1]
Added January 31, 2012
* Rep. Joseph Pitts [R, PA-16]
Added March 01, 2012
* Rep. Nick Rahall [D, WV-3]
Added January 17, 2012
* Rep. Laura Richardson [D, CA-37]
Added March 06, 2012
* Rep. Steven Rothman [D, NJ-9]
Added January 31, 2012
* Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger [D, MD-2]
Added March 19, 2012
* Rep. Bobby Rush [D, IL-1]
Added February 08, 2012
* Rep. Loretta Sanchez [D, CA-47]
Added February 28, 2012
* Rep. Linda Sánchez [D, CA-39]
Added January 23, 2012
* Rep. John Sarbanes [D, MD-3]
Added February 17, 2012
* Rep. Adam Schiff [D, CA-29]
Added February 06, 2012
* Rep. José Serrano [D, NY-16]
Added February 01, 2012
* Rep. Brad Sherman [D, CA-27]
Added January 17, 2012
* Rep. Louise Slaughter [D, NY-28]
Added January 24, 2012
* Rep. Fortney Stark [D, CA-13]
Added February 07, 2012
* Rep. Betty Sutton [D, OH-13]
Added February 01, 2012
* Rep. John Tierney [D, MA-6]
Added February 16, 2012
* Rep. Paul Tonko [D, NY-21]
Added February 02, 2012
* Rep. Nydia Velázquez [D, NY-12]
Added January 31, 2012
* Rep. Peter Welch [D, VT-0]
Added February 14, 2012
* Rep. Lynn Woolsey [D, CA-6]
Added February 01, 2012
* Rep. John Yarmuth [D, KY-3]
Added March 19, 2012
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From: Ron Deutsch
Subject: Fwd: Stand with Verizon Workers - Today!
Date: Mar 22, 2012
Sent from my iPhone
Begin forwarded message:
From: "Labor-Religion Coalition of NYS"
Date: March 22, 2012 8:18:09 AM EDT
To: mkd67@aol.com
Subject: Stand with Verizon Workers - Today!
Reply-To: "Labor-Religion Coalition of NYS"
Stand with Verizon Workers for Today's National Day of Action!
Verizon has made tens of billions in profits and its top executives walked
away with $283 million in the last four years. But when it comes to the 45,000 workers who made Verizon's success possible, the company cries broke. Join the Labor-Religion Coalition of New York State and faith, labor and community allies to call for a fair contract today.
Locations/times:
Binghamton at 12PM
64 Henry Street, Binghamton, NY
Buffalo at 5PM
65 Franklin Street, Buffalo, NY
Albany at 5PM
4 Wembley Court, Albany, NY
Syracuse at 5PM
South State Street, Syracuse, NY
Utica at 5PM
280 Genesee Street, Utica, NY
Patchogue at 5 pm
501 North Ocean Avenue, Patchogue, NY
New York at 6PM
140 West St., New York, NY
Hinchey: single-payer, Glass-Steagall, MovetoAmend, no NAFTA, Fair Elections, stop gas/oil price manipulations...
[note-- email burr.hubbell@hubbells.com for best/updated petition for my campaign; he'll email you new one right now(!)]
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[even WAMC this am mentioned my name first of two candidates in race (Schenectady Gazette Editor)!]
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"I don't think he's [Julian Schreibman] going to emulate too closely the ideals of Maurice Hinchey." [!]
-- new Ulster County Dem Chair Frank Cardinale [at end of Ulster County Democratic mtg. Monday(!)]
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"Powerful corporations and wealthy special interests already have their representatives in Washington-- I want to continue to work hard for you as your representative."
[text of front of Maurice Hinchey's 2010 re-election campaign palm card (am I only one remembering?)]
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[stay tuned for details re: pizza petition parties this weekend-- Saturday (Mar. 24th) 10:30 am in front of Rhinebeck Town Hall, noon at Columbia County Courthouse gazebo in Hudson, 2:30 pm in front of Catskill City Hall in Greene County, and 4:30 pm in Delhi in Delaware County (place to be determined); this Sunday (Mar. 25th) at 10 am in Oneonta, 1 pm in Monticello, 3:30 pm in Woodstock-- join us; work; if we're going to turn in 2500 petition signatures by Apr. 16th we got to get crackin'; need your help!]
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Hi all...
See above: even new Ulster County Dem Chair says Schreibman won't be emulating Mo Hinchey...(!)...
Fascinating.....so let me ask you this question about six key core progressive Democratic values:
Do you agree with Rep. Maurice Hinchey that we should save $400 billion a year by expanding Medicare to cover everyone (HVALF agrees), that we should bring back FDR's Glass-Steagall Act to break up the big banks, that our Constitution should be amended to make it clear corporations aren't people (re: Citizens United/SuperPACs), that NAFTA, CAFTA, and free trade agreements with Korea, Colombia, and Panama should never have been passed, that the Fair Elections Now Act should be passed to make real federal version of Maine/Connecticut-style Clean Money Clean Elections campaign finance reform, and that End Excessive Oil Speculation Now legislation should be passed?...
I do; in fact I've felt strongly about those 6 issues for a long time: that Maurice was 100% right on those...
[...long before I decided last summer to throw my hat in the ring to run against GOP Rep. Chris Gibson...]
Well-- if you agree with Maurice and I that Dem candidates for Congress shouldn't shy from those six...
Then at least re: Congressional primary: why not support the candidate keeping Maurice's legacy alive?
[also-- frankly-- Maurice has proven over and over again for decades that his populist, progressive approach to electoral politics is not simply a moral imperative-- but a proven winning message; the same thing I've proven here in Dutchess County-- winning five elections in a row now in my County Legislature seat (in district with GOP town supervisors long in Rhinebeck and Clinton here-- important; people are sick of same old, same old business as usual; want true POPULIST rep in Congress: fact!]
So-- join us tomorrow (Thurs.) 5:30-7 pm-- rally with our banners, signs as Dem committee folks arrive...
...before 7 pm Dutchess County Dem Convention tomorrow at the Jewish Community Center at 110 Grand Avenue in Poughkeepsie!...(12603)... [vote will take place there tomorrow re: endorsement]
[thx to Sue Holland for creating FB event link-- http://www.facebook.com/events/265472716869357/ ]
Town of Clinton Democratic Committee member Doug Smyth will be placing my name in nomination...
Already petitions are being circulated for me across new 19th c.d. with support of these four Dems:
["Committee to Fill Vacancies" re: http://www.JoelforCongress.org ]
-- Bill McCabe (former three-term Dutchess County Legislator)
-- Doris Kelly (former Congressional candidate and Hyde Park Town Boardmember
-- Rachel Collins Kelly (former Copake Democratic candidate for Town Clerk)
-- Bob Balcom (current Chatham Town Boardmember)
[and our campaign for Congress has been endorsed by Du. Co. Elections Commissioner Fran Knapp!]
Pete Seeger, Cornel West, Josh Fox, Manna Jo Greene, Troy Area Labor Council President Mike Keenan, PEF/DEC anti-fracking engineer Wayne Bayer, and 230 others have endorsed our campaign for the 99% for Congress-- join us and sign on to http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel if you haven't yet!...
[for eight months now I've been campaigning heavily in Dutchess, Columbia, Greene, Rensselaer, Delaware, and Otsego counties-- and since lines changed in Ulster, Sullivan, Schoharie, Montgomery]
I agree with Maurice Hinchey-- expand Medicare to cover all of us [does Schreibman care?].
[ http://hinchey.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=928&Itemid=69 ; recall effort I launched on this several years ago-- http://www.petitiononline.com/onepayer ; worked on this since '94]
I agree with Mo Hinchey-- bring back FDR's Glass-Steagall, break up banks [does Schreibman care?].
[ http://hinchey.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1677&Itemid ; recall effort I launched on this several years ago-- http://www.PetitionOnline.com/FDRagain ]
I agree with Maurice Hinchey-- amend our Constitution: corporations aren't people [Schreibman care?].
[ http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/04/01-1 ; recall my blog post on all this from April 2010:
http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2010/04/hall-hinchey-for-movetoamend-public.html ]
I agree with Maurice Hinchey-- no NAFTA/CAFTA/Korea/Panama/Colombia trade [Schreibman care?].
[ http://hinchey.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1740&Itemid= ;
http://blog.timesunion.com/capitol/archives/83832/tonko-gibson-at-odds-on-trade-agreements/ ]
I agree with Maurice Hinchey-- we need Fair Elections Now-- CMCE reform [does Schreibman care?].
[ http://fairelectionsnow.org/supporters ; I've been pushing for CMCE reform since 2000 w/Citizen Action]
I agree with Maurice Hinchey-- pass End Excessive Oil Speculation Now [does Schreibman care?].
[ http://hinchey.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1666& ; recall my blog post:
http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2012/02/hincheysanders-right-end-excessive-oil.html ; also see my http://www.petitiononline.com/stopgame ]
But it's not just those six issues -- if you're just as upset as I am that it's not just Republicans in Washington-- but also too many Democrats-- that don't seem to be really speaking up against the rush to war with Iran...aren't speaking up against fracking...aren't speaking up against Wall Street (to break up big banks, tax Wall Street speculation, and truly investigate those behind destruction of our economy), aren't speaking up against indefinite detention...aren't speaking up against bipartisan attack on Medicare/Medicaid, aren't speaking up for a truly sizable public works/infrastructure jobs program, aren't speaking up for Medicare for all, aren't speaking up to amend our Constitution to make it clear corporations aren't people, aren't speaking up Fair Elections Now legislation (federal version of Clean Money Clean Elections campaign finance reform), aren't speaking up for fair trade (to get us out of job-killing NAFTA/GATT/WTO), aren't speaking up for our troops to come home NOW from Afghanistan, aren't speaking out against tar sands pipeline, aren't speaking up for our Constitutional freedoms-- and aren't speaking up for Bradley Manning-- and aren't speaking up for voting integrity to reject computerized voting machines...(even Michael Moore reminded us all at Left Forum Sat. of this issue)...
[Maurice and Bernie Sanders are retiring, Wellstone has died, and Kucinich and Feingold lost (for now)]
There's something you can do about it all this folks-- let's work, KEEP Maurice's progressive legacy...
[unlike Schreibman, I am unafraid to stand up and protect the winning progressive legacy of Maurice!]
Again-- join us tomorrow (Thurs.) 5:30-7 pm-- rally with our banners, signs as Dem committee arrives...
...before 7 pm Dutchess County Dem Convention tomorrow at the Jewish Community Center at 110 Grand Avenue in Poughkeepsie!...(12603)... [vote will take place there tomorrow re: endorsement]
[thx to Sue Holland for creating FB event link-- http://www.facebook.com/events/265472716869357/ ]
...and...one more time...
Stay tuned for details re: pizza petition parties this weekend-- Saturday (Mar. 24th) 10:30 am in front of Rhinebeck Town Hall, noon at Columbia County Courthouse gazebo in Hudson, 2:30 pm in front of Catskill City Hall in Greene County, and 4:30 pm in Delhi in Delaware County (place to be determined); this Sunday (Mar. 25th) at 10 am in Oneonta, 1 pm in Monticello, 3:30 pm in Woodstock-- join us, folks...
Our next Team Tyner campaign mtg. will be this Sunday 6:30 pm at Bill and Melinda McKnight's at 60 Holland Drive in Hurley/Woodstock-- thx to those who came out before-- come out people; let's do this...
CRUCIAL to campaign: send $$$-- Joel for Congress, 324 Browns Pond Rd., Staatsburg, NY 12580!...
Schreibman and his campaign have rejected the winning progressive values of Maurice Hinchey...
Work with us to send message to Julian and his party machine power structure in love with Cuomo...
You WILL not turn your back on Maurice's progressive legacy-- without a fight-- from ALL us activists!...
[why is it that so many county Democratic chairs in party power structure (like Schreibman himself) across NYS have long sat with their mouths closed in deafening silence-- as Cuomo continues his attack on unions, teachers, pensions, and working class New Yorkers with budget cuts, selling out to wealthy campaign donors?...(killing what's left of middle class, destroying union-backed Dem coalition);
more info: http://www.99PercentNY.org http://www.ABetterChoiceforNY.org http://www.FiscalPolicy.org ]
Final note: this IS Dutchess Co.: land of Eleanor and FDR-- we deserve a PROGRESSIVE in Congress!
[district maps: https://www.nyed.uscourts.gov/pub/docs/cv/324457/1.11.cv.5632.6729180.2.pdf ;
demographics https://www.nyed.uscourts.gov/pub/docs/cv/324457/1.11.cv.5632.6729180.3.pdf ;
existing lines right now-- http://www.govtrack.us/congress/findyourreps.xpd?state=NY ]
Pass it on-- if you care about the future of our county, our valley, our state and our country!...
Joel
845-444-0599/876-2488
joeltyner@earthlink.net
http://www.JoelforCongress.org
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel
p.s. Shame on Schreibman and his shills for falsely accusing me of not filing with the FEC-- for shame...
[proof here-- I filed long ago-- http://fec-candidates.findthedata.org/l/7334/Tyner-Joel (naughty, Julian!)]
[funny thing re: nasty/pathetic/desperate lies; you can pretend they're not there but they always show up]
p.p.s. Don't forget folks-- this is a PRIMARY-- not a third-party challenge to Democratic nominee...(the fact is that the Democratic nominee to represent us all here in the 19th Congressional District hasn't been officially nominated/decided yet!)...so...progressives-- NOW is your chance to make sure that Dem power structure is forced to finally pay attention to us and not take us for granted; ball in your court!...
p.p.p.s. I wasn't even allowed to speak at Monday's Ulster County Democratic Committee meeting; at this past Sunday's McKnight/Team Tyner mtg. we discussed organizing a series of candidates' nights; we need help from YOU all out there to do this!...(shouldn't annointed Schreibman answer questions?)...
[thx again to Bill McKnight for his great nominating speech Mon. night-- quoted in Daily Freeman too]
[this is New York State 2012-- shouldn't we have elections-- instead of coronations?...c'mon, folks!]
p.p.p.p.s. http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/2012/March/20/Schreibman_UCDem-20Mar12.html --
Dutchess County Legislator Joel Tyner vowed to force a primary against Schreibman. Tyner expressed doubt about Schreibman's clarity on issues, and concern about his history working for the Central Intelligence Agency. "Chris Gibson, the guy who we're running against, he voted for indefinite detention," Tyner said. "I'm 100 percent against indefinite detention," said Tyner, noting that 43 members in the House Republican majority also voted against that measure.
[recall-- http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2011/12/fact-gibson-voted-for-indefinite.html
[you may want to read: http://ucfishbowl.blogspot.com/2009/09/julian-schreibman-resorts-to-gutter.html ]
[recall Washington Post special report: "Top Secret America":
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/top-secret-america/ ]
[see: "Twenty Examples of Obama Administration Assault on Domestic Civil Liberties" by Bill Quigley:
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/12/01-7 : tho just as bad under Schreibman/Bush/CIA tenure]
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[even WAMC this am mentioned my name first of two candidates in race (Schenectady Gazette Editor)!]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"I don't think he's [Julian Schreibman] going to emulate too closely the ideals of Maurice Hinchey." [!]
-- new Ulster County Dem Chair Frank Cardinale [at end of Ulster County Democratic mtg. Monday(!)]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Powerful corporations and wealthy special interests already have their representatives in Washington-- I want to continue to work hard for you as your representative."
[text of front of Maurice Hinchey's 2010 re-election campaign palm card (am I only one remembering?)]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[stay tuned for details re: pizza petition parties this weekend-- Saturday (Mar. 24th) 10:30 am in front of Rhinebeck Town Hall, noon at Columbia County Courthouse gazebo in Hudson, 2:30 pm in front of Catskill City Hall in Greene County, and 4:30 pm in Delhi in Delaware County (place to be determined); this Sunday (Mar. 25th) at 10 am in Oneonta, 1 pm in Monticello, 3:30 pm in Woodstock-- join us; work; if we're going to turn in 2500 petition signatures by Apr. 16th we got to get crackin'; need your help!]
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Hi all...
See above: even new Ulster County Dem Chair says Schreibman won't be emulating Mo Hinchey...(!)...
Fascinating.....so let me ask you this question about six key core progressive Democratic values:
Do you agree with Rep. Maurice Hinchey that we should save $400 billion a year by expanding Medicare to cover everyone (HVALF agrees), that we should bring back FDR's Glass-Steagall Act to break up the big banks, that our Constitution should be amended to make it clear corporations aren't people (re: Citizens United/SuperPACs), that NAFTA, CAFTA, and free trade agreements with Korea, Colombia, and Panama should never have been passed, that the Fair Elections Now Act should be passed to make real federal version of Maine/Connecticut-style Clean Money Clean Elections campaign finance reform, and that End Excessive Oil Speculation Now legislation should be passed?...
I do; in fact I've felt strongly about those 6 issues for a long time: that Maurice was 100% right on those...
[...long before I decided last summer to throw my hat in the ring to run against GOP Rep. Chris Gibson...]
Well-- if you agree with Maurice and I that Dem candidates for Congress shouldn't shy from those six...
Then at least re: Congressional primary: why not support the candidate keeping Maurice's legacy alive?
[also-- frankly-- Maurice has proven over and over again for decades that his populist, progressive approach to electoral politics is not simply a moral imperative-- but a proven winning message; the same thing I've proven here in Dutchess County-- winning five elections in a row now in my County Legislature seat (in district with GOP town supervisors long in Rhinebeck and Clinton here-- important; people are sick of same old, same old business as usual; want true POPULIST rep in Congress: fact!]
So-- join us tomorrow (Thurs.) 5:30-7 pm-- rally with our banners, signs as Dem committee folks arrive...
...before 7 pm Dutchess County Dem Convention tomorrow at the Jewish Community Center at 110 Grand Avenue in Poughkeepsie!...(12603)... [vote will take place there tomorrow re: endorsement]
[thx to Sue Holland for creating FB event link-- http://www.facebook.com/events/265472716869357/ ]
Town of Clinton Democratic Committee member Doug Smyth will be placing my name in nomination...
Already petitions are being circulated for me across new 19th c.d. with support of these four Dems:
["Committee to Fill Vacancies" re: http://www.JoelforCongress.org ]
-- Bill McCabe (former three-term Dutchess County Legislator)
-- Doris Kelly (former Congressional candidate and Hyde Park Town Boardmember
-- Rachel Collins Kelly (former Copake Democratic candidate for Town Clerk)
-- Bob Balcom (current Chatham Town Boardmember)
[and our campaign for Congress has been endorsed by Du. Co. Elections Commissioner Fran Knapp!]
Pete Seeger, Cornel West, Josh Fox, Manna Jo Greene, Troy Area Labor Council President Mike Keenan, PEF/DEC anti-fracking engineer Wayne Bayer, and 230 others have endorsed our campaign for the 99% for Congress-- join us and sign on to http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel if you haven't yet!...
[for eight months now I've been campaigning heavily in Dutchess, Columbia, Greene, Rensselaer, Delaware, and Otsego counties-- and since lines changed in Ulster, Sullivan, Schoharie, Montgomery]
I agree with Maurice Hinchey-- expand Medicare to cover all of us [does Schreibman care?].
[ http://hinchey.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=928&Itemid=69 ; recall effort I launched on this several years ago-- http://www.petitiononline.com/onepayer ; worked on this since '94]
I agree with Mo Hinchey-- bring back FDR's Glass-Steagall, break up banks [does Schreibman care?].
[ http://hinchey.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1677&Itemid ; recall effort I launched on this several years ago-- http://www.PetitionOnline.com/FDRagain ]
I agree with Maurice Hinchey-- amend our Constitution: corporations aren't people [Schreibman care?].
[ http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/04/01-1 ; recall my blog post on all this from April 2010:
http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2010/04/hall-hinchey-for-movetoamend-public.html ]
I agree with Maurice Hinchey-- no NAFTA/CAFTA/Korea/Panama/Colombia trade [Schreibman care?].
[ http://hinchey.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1740&Itemid= ;
http://blog.timesunion.com/capitol/archives/83832/tonko-gibson-at-odds-on-trade-agreements/ ]
I agree with Maurice Hinchey-- we need Fair Elections Now-- CMCE reform [does Schreibman care?].
[ http://fairelectionsnow.org/supporters ; I've been pushing for CMCE reform since 2000 w/Citizen Action]
I agree with Maurice Hinchey-- pass End Excessive Oil Speculation Now [does Schreibman care?].
[ http://hinchey.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1666& ; recall my blog post:
http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2012/02/hincheysanders-right-end-excessive-oil.html ; also see my http://www.petitiononline.com/stopgame ]
But it's not just those six issues -- if you're just as upset as I am that it's not just Republicans in Washington-- but also too many Democrats-- that don't seem to be really speaking up against the rush to war with Iran...aren't speaking up against fracking...aren't speaking up against Wall Street (to break up big banks, tax Wall Street speculation, and truly investigate those behind destruction of our economy), aren't speaking up against indefinite detention...aren't speaking up against bipartisan attack on Medicare/Medicaid, aren't speaking up for a truly sizable public works/infrastructure jobs program, aren't speaking up for Medicare for all, aren't speaking up to amend our Constitution to make it clear corporations aren't people, aren't speaking up Fair Elections Now legislation (federal version of Clean Money Clean Elections campaign finance reform), aren't speaking up for fair trade (to get us out of job-killing NAFTA/GATT/WTO), aren't speaking up for our troops to come home NOW from Afghanistan, aren't speaking out against tar sands pipeline, aren't speaking up for our Constitutional freedoms-- and aren't speaking up for Bradley Manning-- and aren't speaking up for voting integrity to reject computerized voting machines...(even Michael Moore reminded us all at Left Forum Sat. of this issue)...
[Maurice and Bernie Sanders are retiring, Wellstone has died, and Kucinich and Feingold lost (for now)]
There's something you can do about it all this folks-- let's work, KEEP Maurice's progressive legacy...
[unlike Schreibman, I am unafraid to stand up and protect the winning progressive legacy of Maurice!]
Again-- join us tomorrow (Thurs.) 5:30-7 pm-- rally with our banners, signs as Dem committee arrives...
...before 7 pm Dutchess County Dem Convention tomorrow at the Jewish Community Center at 110 Grand Avenue in Poughkeepsie!...(12603)... [vote will take place there tomorrow re: endorsement]
[thx to Sue Holland for creating FB event link-- http://www.facebook.com/events/265472716869357/ ]
...and...one more time...
Stay tuned for details re: pizza petition parties this weekend-- Saturday (Mar. 24th) 10:30 am in front of Rhinebeck Town Hall, noon at Columbia County Courthouse gazebo in Hudson, 2:30 pm in front of Catskill City Hall in Greene County, and 4:30 pm in Delhi in Delaware County (place to be determined); this Sunday (Mar. 25th) at 10 am in Oneonta, 1 pm in Monticello, 3:30 pm in Woodstock-- join us, folks...
Our next Team Tyner campaign mtg. will be this Sunday 6:30 pm at Bill and Melinda McKnight's at 60 Holland Drive in Hurley/Woodstock-- thx to those who came out before-- come out people; let's do this...
CRUCIAL to campaign: send $$$-- Joel for Congress, 324 Browns Pond Rd., Staatsburg, NY 12580!...
Schreibman and his campaign have rejected the winning progressive values of Maurice Hinchey...
Work with us to send message to Julian and his party machine power structure in love with Cuomo...
You WILL not turn your back on Maurice's progressive legacy-- without a fight-- from ALL us activists!...
[why is it that so many county Democratic chairs in party power structure (like Schreibman himself) across NYS have long sat with their mouths closed in deafening silence-- as Cuomo continues his attack on unions, teachers, pensions, and working class New Yorkers with budget cuts, selling out to wealthy campaign donors?...(killing what's left of middle class, destroying union-backed Dem coalition);
more info: http://www.99PercentNY.org http://www.ABetterChoiceforNY.org http://www.FiscalPolicy.org ]
Final note: this IS Dutchess Co.: land of Eleanor and FDR-- we deserve a PROGRESSIVE in Congress!
[district maps: https://www.nyed.uscourts.gov/pub/docs/cv/324457/1.11.cv.5632.6729180.2.pdf ;
demographics https://www.nyed.uscourts.gov/pub/docs/cv/324457/1.11.cv.5632.6729180.3.pdf ;
existing lines right now-- http://www.govtrack.us/congress/findyourreps.xpd?state=NY ]
Pass it on-- if you care about the future of our county, our valley, our state and our country!...
Joel
845-444-0599/876-2488
joeltyner@earthlink.net
http://www.JoelforCongress.org
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel
p.s. Shame on Schreibman and his shills for falsely accusing me of not filing with the FEC-- for shame...
[proof here-- I filed long ago-- http://fec-candidates.findthedata.org/l/7334/Tyner-Joel (naughty, Julian!)]
[funny thing re: nasty/pathetic/desperate lies; you can pretend they're not there but they always show up]
p.p.s. Don't forget folks-- this is a PRIMARY-- not a third-party challenge to Democratic nominee...(the fact is that the Democratic nominee to represent us all here in the 19th Congressional District hasn't been officially nominated/decided yet!)...so...progressives-- NOW is your chance to make sure that Dem power structure is forced to finally pay attention to us and not take us for granted; ball in your court!...
p.p.p.s. I wasn't even allowed to speak at Monday's Ulster County Democratic Committee meeting; at this past Sunday's McKnight/Team Tyner mtg. we discussed organizing a series of candidates' nights; we need help from YOU all out there to do this!...(shouldn't annointed Schreibman answer questions?)...
[thx again to Bill McKnight for his great nominating speech Mon. night-- quoted in Daily Freeman too]
[this is New York State 2012-- shouldn't we have elections-- instead of coronations?...c'mon, folks!]
p.p.p.p.s. http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/2012/March/20/Schreibman_UCDem-20Mar12.html --
Dutchess County Legislator Joel Tyner vowed to force a primary against Schreibman. Tyner expressed doubt about Schreibman's clarity on issues, and concern about his history working for the Central Intelligence Agency. "Chris Gibson, the guy who we're running against, he voted for indefinite detention," Tyner said. "I'm 100 percent against indefinite detention," said Tyner, noting that 43 members in the House Republican majority also voted against that measure.
[recall-- http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2011/12/fact-gibson-voted-for-indefinite.html
[you may want to read: http://ucfishbowl.blogspot.com/2009/09/julian-schreibman-resorts-to-gutter.html ]
[recall Washington Post special report: "Top Secret America":
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/top-secret-america/ ]
[see: "Twenty Examples of Obama Administration Assault on Domestic Civil Liberties" by Bill Quigley:
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/12/01-7 : tho just as bad under Schreibman/Bush/CIA tenure]
speak up, rally for Fair Farm Bill now-- for small farmers, not agribusiness!...
[I'm drivin' up to Albany one more time for this today-- I'll be speaking at rally/press conference!...Joel (845-444-0599)]
[scroll down just a bit to see letter on this I sent yesterday to my 24 colleagues in our County Legislature; email them at countylegislators@co.dutchess.ny.us to get more on board Food and Water Watch sign-on letter to Gillibrand!]
[do you remember how many family farms there used to be in Dutchess County before being killed?...
for much, much more on this see: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/08/nyregion/08towns.html ;
http://www.dutchessland.org/aboutdlc-history.htm ; http://www.petitiononline.com/SaveLand ;
http://landuse.law.pace.edu/landuse/documents/commentary/Reg2/DisappearingFarmland.DOC ]
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From: Mara Schechter
Subject: Fair Farm Bill rally this Thursday
Do you care about sustainable, healthy food for your community? Do you want to support small farmers in New York and fight big agribusinesses? Come join Food & Water Watch at our...
Rally for a Fair Farm Bill!
Outside Senator Gillibrand’s office
11 Clinton Ave (at Clinton & Broadway) Albany, NY
Thursday, March 15th, 2012
12 pm – 1 pm
Come join Food & Water Watch to show Senator Gillibrand that the Capital District wants this year's Farm Bill to work for families, farmers, and the environment, not just big agribusiness. She has a chance this year to make some real change and mend our broken food system, but she needs to hear from YOU.
Planned schedule:
12-12:45 Rally
12:45 Press conference, present coalition letter with 50 orgs/farmers, make a group call to Gillibrand’s office in DC
1:00 Take action like writing a letter if you have time
RSVP and also invite your friends to our facebook event:https://www.facebook.com/#!/events/346105182101961/ (or forward this email to friends)
If you can’t come but want to help out, let us know—there’s a lot to do to make this rally a big event! Hope to see you on the 15th!
Mara Schechter
Field Organizer
Food & Water Watch
203-912-8418
Learn more: www.foodandwaterwatch.org/fairfarmbill
Sign and spread the petition: http://action.foodandwaterwatch.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=9181
#########################################################
[here below: letter I've just sent off to my Co. Leg. colleagues on this; follow up with your emails to them!]
From: Joel Tyner
To: countylegislators@co.dutchess.ny.us
Subject: Colleagues-- sign-on letter here to save family farms in Farm Bill-- re: antitrust, mergers...
Hi all...
Please let me know as soon as possible if you might be interested in signing on to this coalition sign-on letter for the Fair Farm Bill campaign to demonstrate support to Senator Gillibrand. It’s a great way to show that, as a key player on the Agriculture Committee, she can be a leader for a more level playing field and better food system through this year’s Farm Bill (and she has been supportive in the past).
For more information on this, feel free to contact Food & Water Watch Field Organizer Mara Schechter at (203) 912-8418 or mara.schechter@gmail.com; see:
http://foodandwaterwatch.org/food/agricultural-policy/taking-on-corporate-power-in-the-food-supply/ .
Joel
444-0599
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Dear Senator Gillibrand,
We are writing to urge you to stand up for New York’s consumers and family farmers and lend your vocal support for a competition title in the 2012 Farm Bill. A strong competition title is critical to ensuring that consumers have access to quality, independently produced food and that family farmers receive fair prices for the food they produce.
Our food system is not working for most Americans. Most supermarket aisles do not offer good, nutritious foods as feasible options. Instead, what consumers will find is an abundance of cheap, processed foods that are generally unhealthy, or meat from factory farms produced with antibiotics and artificial hormones and vegetables raised with pesticides and often produced halfway around the world.
At the same time, small and midsized farmers who have been the backbone of America’s food system are driven out of business or are barely making ends meet. The disappearance of farmers in the middle is happening rapidly. While the number of giant farms (with more than $1 million in gross farm earnings) grew by 93 percent between 2002 and 2007, we lost 27,000 midsized independent family farms. According to the USDA’s most recent Census of Agriculture, less than half of all farms in the United States break even; the rest rely on off-farm income to cover their expenses.
The problems of our broken food system, including lack of consumer choice, loss of family farms, growth of large polluting factory farms, and food deserts that leave many without access to basic groceries, can be traced to the extreme consolidation of our food system. A small number of extremely large corporations control every sector of the food system, from beef processing (where four companies control 83% of the market) to dairy (where one company – Dean Foods – controls 40% of the fluid milk market alone), to grocery stores (where five companies control over 50% of the market).
With such dominance, these companies are able to manipulate the market, resulting in a host of problems for consumers, farmers, and the environment. They use their market dominance to pressure family farmers to get bigger by giving preferential treatment to large factory farms, use the lack of competition to set artificially low prices for farmers, and use that same position to set prices artificially high for consumers.
In the 2008 Farm Bill, Congress directed USDA to issue rules (collectively known as the GIPSA rule) to address unfair and anti-competitive trade practices that have become rampant in the livestock and poultry sectors. Congress included these provisions to address concerns over the increasingly abusive contract and marketing practices employed by meatpacker and poultry companies that have harmed farmers, ranchers, and growers for decades. Meatpacker and poultry companies opposed these provisions in the Senate, but compromise language included in the final Farm Bill required USDA to use their existing authority under the 1921 Packers & Stockyard Act to take action. Long delays by the USDA allowed House Republicans to prevent almost anything from being accomplished. In the end, only four contract fairness provisions for poultry growers were finalized and none of the livestock rules went into effect.
We still need the complete proposed rule from the 2008 Farm Bill to be implemented, but in the context of broader reforms that make markets work for farmers and consumers. The 2012 Farm Bill presents an opportunity to create a fair Farm Bill that works for all Americans. A competition title – that recognizes that markets only work if there are rules that ensure a leveling of the playing field for small and midsized farmers – will result in better choices for consumers, more vibrant rural economies, and a healthier environment.
We urge you to support a competition title in the 2012 Farm Bill that:
-- Places a moratorium on mergers of large food and agricultural companies and reviews prior mergers for antitrust issues
-- Bans meatpackers from owning livestock, which can be used to manipulate the market
-- Requires contracts for farmers and ranchers that have a pre-arranged price, a firm delivery date, and transparency
-- Investigates and enforces antitrust laws across the food system
We greatly appreciated your support of the GIPSA rule, and we urge you, as a leading member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, to continue to stand with New York’s farmers, ranchers, growers and consumers by supporting a comprehensive competition title in this year’s Farm Bill.
[scroll down just a bit to see letter on this I sent yesterday to my 24 colleagues in our County Legislature; email them at countylegislators@co.dutchess.ny.us to get more on board Food and Water Watch sign-on letter to Gillibrand!]
[do you remember how many family farms there used to be in Dutchess County before being killed?...
for much, much more on this see: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/08/nyregion/08towns.html ;
http://www.dutchessland.org/aboutdlc-history.htm ; http://www.petitiononline.com/SaveLand ;
http://landuse.law.pace.edu/landuse/documents/commentary/Reg2/DisappearingFarmland.DOC ]
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From: Mara Schechter
Subject: Fair Farm Bill rally this Thursday
Do you care about sustainable, healthy food for your community? Do you want to support small farmers in New York and fight big agribusinesses? Come join Food & Water Watch at our...
Rally for a Fair Farm Bill!
Outside Senator Gillibrand’s office
11 Clinton Ave (at Clinton & Broadway) Albany, NY
Thursday, March 15th, 2012
12 pm – 1 pm
Come join Food & Water Watch to show Senator Gillibrand that the Capital District wants this year's Farm Bill to work for families, farmers, and the environment, not just big agribusiness. She has a chance this year to make some real change and mend our broken food system, but she needs to hear from YOU.
Planned schedule:
12-12:45 Rally
12:45 Press conference, present coalition letter with 50 orgs/farmers, make a group call to Gillibrand’s office in DC
1:00 Take action like writing a letter if you have time
RSVP and also invite your friends to our facebook event:https://www.facebook.com/#!/events/346105182101961/ (or forward this email to friends)
If you can’t come but want to help out, let us know—there’s a lot to do to make this rally a big event! Hope to see you on the 15th!
Mara Schechter
Field Organizer
Food & Water Watch
203-912-8418
Learn more: www.foodandwaterwatch.org/fairfarmbill
Sign and spread the petition: http://action.foodandwaterwatch.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=9181
#########################################################
[here below: letter I've just sent off to my Co. Leg. colleagues on this; follow up with your emails to them!]
From: Joel Tyner
To: countylegislators@co.dutchess.ny.us
Subject: Colleagues-- sign-on letter here to save family farms in Farm Bill-- re: antitrust, mergers...
Hi all...
Please let me know as soon as possible if you might be interested in signing on to this coalition sign-on letter for the Fair Farm Bill campaign to demonstrate support to Senator Gillibrand. It’s a great way to show that, as a key player on the Agriculture Committee, she can be a leader for a more level playing field and better food system through this year’s Farm Bill (and she has been supportive in the past).
For more information on this, feel free to contact Food & Water Watch Field Organizer Mara Schechter at (203) 912-8418 or mara.schechter@gmail.com; see:
http://foodandwaterwatch.org/food/agricultural-policy/taking-on-corporate-power-in-the-food-supply/ .
Joel
444-0599
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Dear Senator Gillibrand,
We are writing to urge you to stand up for New York’s consumers and family farmers and lend your vocal support for a competition title in the 2012 Farm Bill. A strong competition title is critical to ensuring that consumers have access to quality, independently produced food and that family farmers receive fair prices for the food they produce.
Our food system is not working for most Americans. Most supermarket aisles do not offer good, nutritious foods as feasible options. Instead, what consumers will find is an abundance of cheap, processed foods that are generally unhealthy, or meat from factory farms produced with antibiotics and artificial hormones and vegetables raised with pesticides and often produced halfway around the world.
At the same time, small and midsized farmers who have been the backbone of America’s food system are driven out of business or are barely making ends meet. The disappearance of farmers in the middle is happening rapidly. While the number of giant farms (with more than $1 million in gross farm earnings) grew by 93 percent between 2002 and 2007, we lost 27,000 midsized independent family farms. According to the USDA’s most recent Census of Agriculture, less than half of all farms in the United States break even; the rest rely on off-farm income to cover their expenses.
The problems of our broken food system, including lack of consumer choice, loss of family farms, growth of large polluting factory farms, and food deserts that leave many without access to basic groceries, can be traced to the extreme consolidation of our food system. A small number of extremely large corporations control every sector of the food system, from beef processing (where four companies control 83% of the market) to dairy (where one company – Dean Foods – controls 40% of the fluid milk market alone), to grocery stores (where five companies control over 50% of the market).
With such dominance, these companies are able to manipulate the market, resulting in a host of problems for consumers, farmers, and the environment. They use their market dominance to pressure family farmers to get bigger by giving preferential treatment to large factory farms, use the lack of competition to set artificially low prices for farmers, and use that same position to set prices artificially high for consumers.
In the 2008 Farm Bill, Congress directed USDA to issue rules (collectively known as the GIPSA rule) to address unfair and anti-competitive trade practices that have become rampant in the livestock and poultry sectors. Congress included these provisions to address concerns over the increasingly abusive contract and marketing practices employed by meatpacker and poultry companies that have harmed farmers, ranchers, and growers for decades. Meatpacker and poultry companies opposed these provisions in the Senate, but compromise language included in the final Farm Bill required USDA to use their existing authority under the 1921 Packers & Stockyard Act to take action. Long delays by the USDA allowed House Republicans to prevent almost anything from being accomplished. In the end, only four contract fairness provisions for poultry growers were finalized and none of the livestock rules went into effect.
We still need the complete proposed rule from the 2008 Farm Bill to be implemented, but in the context of broader reforms that make markets work for farmers and consumers. The 2012 Farm Bill presents an opportunity to create a fair Farm Bill that works for all Americans. A competition title – that recognizes that markets only work if there are rules that ensure a leveling of the playing field for small and midsized farmers – will result in better choices for consumers, more vibrant rural economies, and a healthier environment.
We urge you to support a competition title in the 2012 Farm Bill that:
-- Places a moratorium on mergers of large food and agricultural companies and reviews prior mergers for antitrust issues
-- Bans meatpackers from owning livestock, which can be used to manipulate the market
-- Requires contracts for farmers and ranchers that have a pre-arranged price, a firm delivery date, and transparency
-- Investigates and enforces antitrust laws across the food system
We greatly appreciated your support of the GIPSA rule, and we urge you, as a leading member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, to continue to stand with New York’s farmers, ranchers, growers and consumers by supporting a comprehensive competition title in this year’s Farm Bill.
house party for Team Tyner in Woodstock Sun. @ Melinda/Bill McKnight's home-- join us!...
Hi all...
Paul Wellstone, Maurice Hinchey, Dennis Kucinich, Russ Feingold, Alan Grayson-- gone, gone, gone from office (or soon about to-- unfortunately for us and for Maurice, Dennis)...
....but if you're a progressive here in Hudson Valley/Catskills region you can send progressive to D.C....
Come out if you can to join Melinda and Bill McKnight next Sunday (Mar. 18th) at 7:30 pm at their home at 60 Holland Drive in Woodstock-- they'll be hosting a house party for my campaign for Congress!...
[see coalition at http://www.RebuildtheDream.com -- Bill and Melinda host parties there for this coalition]
[note, too-- am assembling campaign team-- some of you have indicated interest-- need your help folks]
Crucial to campaign: send $$$, folks-- Joel for Congress, 324 Browns Pond Rd., Staatsburg, NY 12580!
Attention-- friends Ulster, Sullivan, Dutchess, Columbia, Greene, Delaware, Otsego, Schoharie, Montgomery, Rensselaer counties-- time is NOW to step up to plate to make this campaign real...
In just ten days I'll be kicking off petition-gathering-- need to build massive volunteer time to do this!...
We need as many of you as possible to commit to help us hit the ground running starting Mar. 20th to help us get the many petition signatures we'll need to be on the ballot (1250 minimum; 2500 to be safe):
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20120215/NEWS/302150032/Federal-court-intervenes-state-s-redistricting .
[also see: http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/nycode/ELN/6/6-136 ]
[note-- as long as you're a registered Dem in NYS you can gather in the 20th-- let us know if you can!]
Again-- 'tis true-- local living legend Pete Seeger, scholar/author/activist Cornel West, "Gasland" director Josh Fox, Dutchess County Democratic Elections Commissioner Fran Knapp, Troy Area Labor Council President Mike Keenan, PEF/DEC anti-fracking engineer Wayne Bayer, the Town of Union Vale and Town of Clinton Democratic Committees, and 230 others have endorsed my run for Congress-- join us:
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel !...(many urging me to plow ahead with my campaign-- so I am)...
Fact: I'm a proven winner-- I just got elected to a fifth straight term in our County Legislature here in Dutchess to represent Rhinebeck and Clinton-- two towns that have long had GOP town supervisors.
Seniors vote; Kathy Hochul wasn't supposed to win last May in 26th c.d.; she won harping on Medicare; that's a big point we've been making over last eight months we've been campaigning; how we can win back the 20th c.d.:
http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2011/08/truth-re-gibson-anti-senior-anti.html .
So again-- if you're just as upset as we are that it's not just Republicans in Washington-- but also too many Democrats-- that don't seem to be really speaking up against the rush to war with Iran...aren't speaking up against fracking...aren't speaking up against Wall Street (to break up big banks, tax Wall Street speculation, and truly investigate those behind destruction of our economy), aren't speaking up against indefinite detention...aren't speaking up against bipartisan attack on Medicare/Medicaid, aren't speaking up for a truly sizable public works/infrastructure jobs program, aren't speaking up for Medicare for all, aren't speaking up to amend our Constitution to make it clear corporations aren't people, aren't speaking up Fair Elections Now legislation (federal version of Clean Money Clean Elections campaign finance reform), aren't speaking up for fair trade (to get us out of job-killing NAFTA/GATT/WTO), aren't speaking up for our troops to come home NOW from Afghanistan, aren't speaking out against tar sands pipeline, aren't speaking up for our Constitutional freedoms-- and aren't speaking up for Bradley Manning-- and aren't speaking up for voting integrity to reject computerized voting machines...
[$4 trillion in proposed cuts too; see: http://www.jackrasmus.com/2011/09/18/the-4-trillion-income-shift/ ]
Well-- if you're as upset as we are about far too much of a bipartisan sell-out on all of the issues above...
[except for folks like Maurice Hinchey-- our hero for decades-- help send another progressive to D.C.]
And wondering what you can do about it-- LET'S DO THIS!...come out and join us next Sunday!...
Recall this from recent Daily Freeman-- "Gibson, who lives in the Columbia County town of Kinderhook and would be the district's incumbent, would lose the northern part of his current 20th District but retain Northern Dutchess and Greene, Columbia, and Rensselaer counties, as well as most of Delaware County and about half of Otsego County.
[see: http://www.dailyfreeman.com/articles/2012/03/01/news/doc4f4ee3af4d388022167954.txt ]
And this posted recently to the Albany Times-Union's Capital Confidential blog as well:
"Gibson, R-Kinderhook, currently resides in the Hudson Valley district, which would include Columbia, Greene, Ulster, Otsego, Delaware and Schoharie counties, as well as parts of Montgomery and Dutchess counties."
http://blog.timesunion.com/capitol/archives/119247/manns-plan-unites-albany-schenectady-and-troy/
[district maps: https://www.nyed.uscourts.gov/pub/docs/cv/324457/1.11.cv.5632.6729180.2.pdf ;
demographics https://www.nyed.uscourts.gov/pub/docs/cv/324457/1.11.cv.5632.6729180.3.pdf ;
existing lines right now-- http://www.govtrack.us/congress/findyourreps.xpd?state=NY ]
Pass it on!...
Joel
845-444-0599/876-2488
joeltyner@earthlink.net
http://www.JoelforCongress.org
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel
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[again-- letters to editor needed NOW on these facts below-- to be put into newspapers across 20th c.d.]
Fact: I refuse to accept any campaign donations whatsoever from Wall Street or the insurance industry-- and will fight in Congress to stop any cuts to Medicare or Social Security.
Fact: Chris Gibson has raked in over $122,000 over just the last two years alone from securities and investment firms on Wall Street and over $46,000 from the insurance industry as well over same time.
[ http://maplight.org/us-congress/legislator/1461-chris-gibson ]
Fact: The Wall Street Journal reported April 4th last year that the Gibson/Cantor/Boehner "Cut, Cap, and Kill" legislation would "essentially end Medicare", eliminating 700,000 jobs; Gibson staff lie re: this.
[ http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2011/08/truth-re-gibson-anti-senior-anti.html ]
Fact: Gibson voted Nov.: so-called "Balanced Budget Amendment": Social Security/Medicare cuts.
[ http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2011/11/hinchey-tonko-owens-right-gibson-wrong.html ]
Fact: "In a recent poll by the Pew Research Center, 77 percent of Americans said too much power is concentrated in the hands of a few rich people and large corporations. In a poll by Time Magazine, 86 percent of Americans said Wall Street and its lobbyists have too much influence in Washington."
[from "Corporate Rule Is Not Inevitable" by Sarah van Gelder (Jan. 20th):
http://www.YesMagazine.org/blogs/sarah-van-gelder/corporate-rule-is-not-inevitable ]
Fact: 81% of Americans support taxing millionaires/billionaires more: solve federal budget woes.
[ http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/7333/what_americans_want_the_peoples_budget ]
Fact: 78% of Americans support protecting Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid from any cuts.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/poll-shows-americans-oppose-entitlement-cuts-to-deal-with-debt-problem/2011/04/19/AFoiAH9D_story.html
Fact: 59% of Americans support expanding Medicare to cover us all-- to save $400 billion a year.
http://www.healthcare-now.org/another-poll-shows-majority-support-for-single-payer/ ; http://www.PNHP.org/
Fact: 80% of Americans oppose 2010 Supreme Court decision giving corporations free-speech rights of people; it's time to amend the Constitution to make it clear-- corporations aren't people(!).
http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenumbers/2010/02/in-supreme-court-ruling-on-campaign-finance-the-public-dissents.html ; http://www.freespeechforpeople.org/node/75
Fact: 67% of Americans support $10/hour minimum wage to put money in pockets of working class.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/06/americans-minimum-wage-poll_n_752921.html
Fact: 53% of Americans support full federal funding for Planned Parenthood & reproductive justice.
http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/node/15708
Fact: More New Yorkers support protecting drinking water with statewide ban on fracking than not.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/15/new-york-gas-drilling-rul_n_900011.html
Fact: 54% of Americans support full funding for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-- not cuts.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2011/02/16/harris-poll-epa-budget/ ]
Fact: 79% of New Yorkers support Clean Money Clean Elections-- real campaign finance reform.
http://rochesterturning.com/2008/04/28/poll-says-3-of-4-new-yorkers-support-publicly-financed-elections/
Fact: 59% of Americans support our troops coming home from Afghanistan and Iraq now without delay.
http://www.thinkprogress.org/2011/05/11/afghanistan-get-out-59-percent/
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[this below posted online Feb. 17th to Post Star (daily paper for Saratoga, Warren, Washington counties); thx again tons to Vane Lashua of Mid-Hudson Progressive Alliance for helping to make this happen!]
Folk singer endorses Democratic challenger to Rep. Gibson
MAURY THOMPSON -- thompson@poststar.com
The Post-Star | Posted: Friday, February 17, 2012 7:54 pm
http://poststar.com/news/local/folk-singer-endorses-democratic-challenger-to-rep-gibson/article_c72d5418-59cb-11e1-9c46-001871e3ce6c.html
He may not have much money in his campaign fund, but Democratic congressional candidate Joel Tyner has an asset equally important to getting elected, said legendary folk singer Pete Seeger.
"He's got persistence, and as Calvin Coolidge said, 'Persistence is the one thing you need in this world because genius won't do it,' " Seeger said in a telephone interview on Friday, confirming his endorsement of Tyner's candidacy.
Seeger said he has known Tyner, a political activist, for about 10 or 20 years.
[JT note-- I've known Pete since '81(!)...(stayed at his house then, took care of boat-- "Woody Guthrie"]
Tyner, who is seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge U.S. Rep. Chris Gibson, R-Kinderhook, in November, announced Seeger's endorsement in a press release earlier on Friday..
"The world is full of geniuses who have failed, but if you have persistence, sooner or later you're going to make it. And Joel does have that, and he also is a very sensible guy and will do a lot of good things," Seeger said.
"On the other hand, you know what (Democratic presidential candidate) Adlai Stevenson said when somebody in 1952 said, 'Mr. Stevenson, all the intelligent people in the country are on your side,' " Seeger asked, going on to answer his own question. "And Stevenson said, 'I don't need all the intelligent people. I need a majority.' "
Tyner, a political activist and substitute school teacher, is serving his fifth term on the Dutchess County Legislature, a government board equivalent to boards of supervisors in other counties. Prior to getting elected, he ran five unsuccessful political campaigns - two for the county legislature and three for the state Legislature.
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From former Co. Leg. Bill McCabe (wmc1226@optonline.net):
"At its regular monthly meeting in February the Union Vale Democratic Committee officially endorsed Joel Tyner in his campaign to become our next representative in the US Congress for the 20th Congressional District. Committee member Bill McCabe describes Joel Tyner as tireless in his advocacy of Democratic principles. Joel's positions on the environment (against hydrofracking), the economy (a just tax policy that requires a fairer contribution from the top 2%), and government reform (independent re-districting panels) make him an ideal candidate to give voice to the issues of greatest concern to citizens of all parties in the Hudson Valley. Joel has been courageous as a Dutchess County Legislator, and he would do the same as our Representative in Washington, DC."
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Fact: Gibson voted with House majority in Sept. to allocate only half the FEMA funding Senate did.
[ http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2011/09/hincheytonko-right-re-fema-shame-on.html ]
Fact: Gibson voted for Ryan budget Apr. 15th against the disAbled-- by cutting Medicaid by 35%.
[ http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2011/12/gibson-forcing-people-with-disabilities.html ]
Fact: Gibson voted this winter for REINS-- jeopardizing food safety and Dodd-Frank provisions.
[ http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2011/12/another-bad-gibson-vote-this-week-for.html ]
Fact: Gibson's signing on to Grover Norquist's "no new tax" pledge means Congressman 1% will continue ignoring an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll in March finding that 81% of Americans support taxing millionaires to solve federal budget problems-- not putting Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security on chopping block (send me to Washington-- Joel will be an even louder voice telling both GOP and Dems to save all three of these from cuts.
[ http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/7333/what_americans_want_the_peoples_budget ;
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/invoke-the-14th--and-end-the-debt-standoff/2011/07/01/gHQAUif8yH_story.html ; http://www.PetitionOnline.com/ILikeIke ;
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/08/26/305451/citizen-slams-gop-rep-over-anti-tax-pledge-we-are-your-consituents-not-grover-norquist/ ]
Fact: Gibson refuses to support Obama's American Jobs Act-- and he also refuses to support Rep. Jan Schakowsky's even better "Emergency Jobs to Restore the American Dream Act", which would create 2.2 million jobs rebuilding our infrastructure and hiring in our schools, hospitals, child care centers, parks, police officers, firefighters, weatherization, and recycling-- by raising taxes for Americans who earn more than $1 million and $1 billion, by eliminating subsidies for big oil companies, and by closing loopholes for corporations that send American jobs overseas.
[see: http://www.AmericanJobsAct.com/ ; recall my http://www.PetitionOnline.com/JobsNow effort]
Fact: Gibson voted last fall to kill more American jobs by extending so-called "free-trade" agreements to Korea, Panama, and Colombia-- though we've already lost 5 million jobs from NAFTA.
[ http://blog.timesunion.com/capitol/archives/83832/tonko-gibson-at-odds-on-trade-agreements/ ;
http://www.americanjobsalliance.com/content/new-free-trade-pacts-will-hurt-middle-class ]
Fact: Gibson voted last February to eliminate $300 million in Title X Planned Parenthood funding-- even though "Title X funding can only be used for family planning services including birth control, life saving cervical and breast cancer screenings, HIV counseling and testing, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, and education. The funding cannot and is not used to provide abortion services. Under the proposal, 48 percent of Planned Parenthood patients nationwide would be cut off from their source of health care for these essential services. Ninety-seven percent of the services provided by Planned Parenthood are preventive, most of which are women's gynecology services."
http://www.plannedparenthood.org/about-us/newsroom/local-press-releases/representatives-gibson-hayworth-vote-block-funds-planned-parenthood-would-cut-health-care-milli-36335.htm
Fact: Gibson voted last fall for HR 358-- legislation that "would allow a hospital to deny a woman lifesaving emergency abortion care-even if a doctor deems it necessary. It would also take comprehensive health care coverage away from women and create loopholes that states and insurance companies could exploit to undermine the new requirement that insurance companies provide birth control with no co-pays or deductibles."
http://www.plannedparenthood.org/about-us/newsroom/local-press-releases/rep-gibson-votes-deny-lifesaving-emergency-health-care-women-38215.htm
Fact: Gibson's allegiance to Grover Norquist jeopardizes national support for farmland protection.
As Scenic Hudson noted recently on WAMC, it's crucial that even the small amount of federal funding for farmland protection ($100 million) now in the the farm bill about to be re-authorized be maintained-- the fact is this becomes more and more impossible with Norquist acolytes like Gibson in office who reject progressive taxation.
[ http://www.riverkeeper.org/news-events/news/stop-polluters/pollution-enforcement/outlining-vision/ ]
Fact: Gibson refuses to push for a wide variety of common-sense progressive initiatives that have broad populist support, as evidenced repeatedly by many polls-- a statewide ban on fracking (and immediate national moratorium), a liveable minimum wage, Medicare for all, Clean Money Clean Elections campaign finance reform, amending the Constitution to make it clear corporations aren't people, taxing Wall Street, breaking up the big banks, bringing back the Glass-Steagall Act, ending the speculation driving gas/oil prices up through the roof, bringing our troops now from Afghanistan, Iraq, and all over the globe to save $125 billion a year for taxpayers (and redirect $ home to our needs)-- and he refuses to lift a finger to join Sen. Bernie Sanders in seriously challenging the $16 TRILLION the Federal Reserve recently lent out to practically every major financial institution and corporation around.
[ http://www.AMillionFrackingLetters.com/ ; http://www.FrackAction.com/ ; http://www.ToxicsTargeting.com/
http://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=9e2a4ea8-6e73-4be2-a753-62060dcbb3c3
http://www.freespeechforpeople.org/node/75 ; http://www.PetitionOnline.com/FDRagain ;
http://www.thinkprogress.org/2011/05/11/afghanistan-get-out-59-percent ]
Fact: Rep. Chris Gibson voted Dec. 14th for the atrocious indefinite detention NDAA bill ("The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012-- (House Vote 932 - H.R.1540: On Agreeing to the Conference Report").
[see: http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2011/12/fact-gibson-voted-for-indefinite.html ;
http://www.politics.nytimes.com/congress/votes/112/house/1/932 ]
Fact: Rep. Maurice Hinchey, Rep. Paul Tonko, and 91 other Democratic (and principled) members of the House of Representatives voted Dec. 14th against the indefinite detention NDAA legislation.
[see: http://www.votesmart.org/bill/14203/37472/ ]
Fact: It wasn't just 93 Democrats in the House who voted against the indefinite detention NDAA bill; the truth is also that literally 43 GOP members of the House of Representatives (but not Chris Gibson) voted Dec. 14th against indefinite detention NDAA legislation-- all the following GOP (not Chris Gibson tho):
Republicans Justin Amah (MI-3), Larry Buchshon (IN-8), Michael Burgess (TX-26), Dan Burton (IN-5), John Campbell (CA-48), Jason Chaffetz (VT-3), Mike Coffman (CO-6), Scott DesJarlais (TN-4), Jeffrey Duncan (SC-3), John Duncan, Jr. (TN-2), Jeff Flake (AZ-6), J. Randy Forbes (VA-4), Scott Garrett (NJ-5), Robert Goodlatte (VA-6), Paul Gosar (AZ-1), Trey Gowdy (SC-4), Tom Graves (GA-9), Morgan Griffith (VA-9), Andy Harris (MD-1), Robert Hurt (VA-5), Tim Johnson (IL-15), Walter Jones (NC-3), Paul Labrador (ID-1), Cynthia Lumnis (WY-1), Connie Mack (FL-14), Tom McClintock (CA-4), Mick Mulvaney (SC-5), Mike Pence (IN-6), Bill Posey (FL-15), Reid Ribble (WI-8), Phil Roe (TN-1), Dana Rohrabacher (CA-46), Todd Rokita (IN-4), Ed Royce (CA-40), David Schweikert (AZ-5), Mike Simpson (ID-2), Marlin Stutzman (IN-3), Scott Tipton (CO-3), Tim Walberg (MI-7), Joe Walsh (IL-8), and Rob Woodall (GA-7)!
[see: http://www.opencongress.org/roll_call/show/9593 ]
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This-- from http://www.DCCC.org/races/district/new_yorks_20th ...
[more info here from Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee]
House Republicans voted for a radical budget that ends Medicare rather than ending taxpayer giveaways for Big Oil or tax breaks for the ultra rich. Republicans' [Chris Gibson's] plan would be devastating to seniors in the district who are currently enrolled in Medicare:
* Increase prescription drug costs for 11,200 Medicare beneficiaries in the district who would be caught in the "donut hole."
* Eliminate new preventative care benefits for 117,000 Medicare beneficiaries in the district.
Republicans' [Chris Gibson's] radical plan to end Medicare would also affect those 54 or younger who are not currently enrolled in Medicare:
* Deny 480,000 individuals age 54 and younger in the district access to Medicare's guaranteed benefits.
* Increase the out-of-pocket costs of health coverage by over $6,000 per year in 2022 and by almost $12,000 per year in 2032 for the 125,000 individuals in the district who are between the ages of 44 and 54.
Paul Wellstone, Maurice Hinchey, Dennis Kucinich, Russ Feingold, Alan Grayson-- gone, gone, gone from office (or soon about to-- unfortunately for us and for Maurice, Dennis)...
....but if you're a progressive here in Hudson Valley/Catskills region you can send progressive to D.C....
Come out if you can to join Melinda and Bill McKnight next Sunday (Mar. 18th) at 7:30 pm at their home at 60 Holland Drive in Woodstock-- they'll be hosting a house party for my campaign for Congress!...
[see coalition at http://www.RebuildtheDream.com -- Bill and Melinda host parties there for this coalition]
[note, too-- am assembling campaign team-- some of you have indicated interest-- need your help folks]
Crucial to campaign: send $$$, folks-- Joel for Congress, 324 Browns Pond Rd., Staatsburg, NY 12580!
Attention-- friends Ulster, Sullivan, Dutchess, Columbia, Greene, Delaware, Otsego, Schoharie, Montgomery, Rensselaer counties-- time is NOW to step up to plate to make this campaign real...
In just ten days I'll be kicking off petition-gathering-- need to build massive volunteer time to do this!...
We need as many of you as possible to commit to help us hit the ground running starting Mar. 20th to help us get the many petition signatures we'll need to be on the ballot (1250 minimum; 2500 to be safe):
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20120215/NEWS/302150032/Federal-court-intervenes-state-s-redistricting .
[also see: http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/nycode/ELN/6/6-136 ]
[note-- as long as you're a registered Dem in NYS you can gather in the 20th-- let us know if you can!]
Again-- 'tis true-- local living legend Pete Seeger, scholar/author/activist Cornel West, "Gasland" director Josh Fox, Dutchess County Democratic Elections Commissioner Fran Knapp, Troy Area Labor Council President Mike Keenan, PEF/DEC anti-fracking engineer Wayne Bayer, the Town of Union Vale and Town of Clinton Democratic Committees, and 230 others have endorsed my run for Congress-- join us:
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel !...(many urging me to plow ahead with my campaign-- so I am)...
Fact: I'm a proven winner-- I just got elected to a fifth straight term in our County Legislature here in Dutchess to represent Rhinebeck and Clinton-- two towns that have long had GOP town supervisors.
Seniors vote; Kathy Hochul wasn't supposed to win last May in 26th c.d.; she won harping on Medicare; that's a big point we've been making over last eight months we've been campaigning; how we can win back the 20th c.d.:
http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2011/08/truth-re-gibson-anti-senior-anti.html .
So again-- if you're just as upset as we are that it's not just Republicans in Washington-- but also too many Democrats-- that don't seem to be really speaking up against the rush to war with Iran...aren't speaking up against fracking...aren't speaking up against Wall Street (to break up big banks, tax Wall Street speculation, and truly investigate those behind destruction of our economy), aren't speaking up against indefinite detention...aren't speaking up against bipartisan attack on Medicare/Medicaid, aren't speaking up for a truly sizable public works/infrastructure jobs program, aren't speaking up for Medicare for all, aren't speaking up to amend our Constitution to make it clear corporations aren't people, aren't speaking up Fair Elections Now legislation (federal version of Clean Money Clean Elections campaign finance reform), aren't speaking up for fair trade (to get us out of job-killing NAFTA/GATT/WTO), aren't speaking up for our troops to come home NOW from Afghanistan, aren't speaking out against tar sands pipeline, aren't speaking up for our Constitutional freedoms-- and aren't speaking up for Bradley Manning-- and aren't speaking up for voting integrity to reject computerized voting machines...
[$4 trillion in proposed cuts too; see: http://www.jackrasmus.com/2011/09/18/the-4-trillion-income-shift/ ]
Well-- if you're as upset as we are about far too much of a bipartisan sell-out on all of the issues above...
[except for folks like Maurice Hinchey-- our hero for decades-- help send another progressive to D.C.]
And wondering what you can do about it-- LET'S DO THIS!...come out and join us next Sunday!...
Recall this from recent Daily Freeman-- "Gibson, who lives in the Columbia County town of Kinderhook and would be the district's incumbent, would lose the northern part of his current 20th District but retain Northern Dutchess and Greene, Columbia, and Rensselaer counties, as well as most of Delaware County and about half of Otsego County.
[see: http://www.dailyfreeman.com/articles/2012/03/01/news/doc4f4ee3af4d388022167954.txt ]
And this posted recently to the Albany Times-Union's Capital Confidential blog as well:
"Gibson, R-Kinderhook, currently resides in the Hudson Valley district, which would include Columbia, Greene, Ulster, Otsego, Delaware and Schoharie counties, as well as parts of Montgomery and Dutchess counties."
http://blog.timesunion.com/capitol/archives/119247/manns-plan-unites-albany-schenectady-and-troy/
[district maps: https://www.nyed.uscourts.gov/pub/docs/cv/324457/1.11.cv.5632.6729180.2.pdf ;
demographics https://www.nyed.uscourts.gov/pub/docs/cv/324457/1.11.cv.5632.6729180.3.pdf ;
existing lines right now-- http://www.govtrack.us/congress/findyourreps.xpd?state=NY ]
Pass it on!...
Joel
845-444-0599/876-2488
joeltyner@earthlink.net
http://www.JoelforCongress.org
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel
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[again-- letters to editor needed NOW on these facts below-- to be put into newspapers across 20th c.d.]
Fact: I refuse to accept any campaign donations whatsoever from Wall Street or the insurance industry-- and will fight in Congress to stop any cuts to Medicare or Social Security.
Fact: Chris Gibson has raked in over $122,000 over just the last two years alone from securities and investment firms on Wall Street and over $46,000 from the insurance industry as well over same time.
[ http://maplight.org/us-congress/legislator/1461-chris-gibson ]
Fact: The Wall Street Journal reported April 4th last year that the Gibson/Cantor/Boehner "Cut, Cap, and Kill" legislation would "essentially end Medicare", eliminating 700,000 jobs; Gibson staff lie re: this.
[ http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2011/08/truth-re-gibson-anti-senior-anti.html ]
Fact: Gibson voted Nov.: so-called "Balanced Budget Amendment": Social Security/Medicare cuts.
[ http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2011/11/hinchey-tonko-owens-right-gibson-wrong.html ]
Fact: "In a recent poll by the Pew Research Center, 77 percent of Americans said too much power is concentrated in the hands of a few rich people and large corporations. In a poll by Time Magazine, 86 percent of Americans said Wall Street and its lobbyists have too much influence in Washington."
[from "Corporate Rule Is Not Inevitable" by Sarah van Gelder (Jan. 20th):
http://www.YesMagazine.org/blogs/sarah-van-gelder/corporate-rule-is-not-inevitable ]
Fact: 81% of Americans support taxing millionaires/billionaires more: solve federal budget woes.
[ http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/7333/what_americans_want_the_peoples_budget ]
Fact: 78% of Americans support protecting Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid from any cuts.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/poll-shows-americans-oppose-entitlement-cuts-to-deal-with-debt-problem/2011/04/19/AFoiAH9D_story.html
Fact: 59% of Americans support expanding Medicare to cover us all-- to save $400 billion a year.
http://www.healthcare-now.org/another-poll-shows-majority-support-for-single-payer/ ; http://www.PNHP.org/
Fact: 80% of Americans oppose 2010 Supreme Court decision giving corporations free-speech rights of people; it's time to amend the Constitution to make it clear-- corporations aren't people(!).
http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenumbers/2010/02/in-supreme-court-ruling-on-campaign-finance-the-public-dissents.html ; http://www.freespeechforpeople.org/node/75
Fact: 67% of Americans support $10/hour minimum wage to put money in pockets of working class.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/06/americans-minimum-wage-poll_n_752921.html
Fact: 53% of Americans support full federal funding for Planned Parenthood & reproductive justice.
http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/node/15708
Fact: More New Yorkers support protecting drinking water with statewide ban on fracking than not.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/15/new-york-gas-drilling-rul_n_900011.html
Fact: 54% of Americans support full funding for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-- not cuts.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2011/02/16/harris-poll-epa-budget/ ]
Fact: 79% of New Yorkers support Clean Money Clean Elections-- real campaign finance reform.
http://rochesterturning.com/2008/04/28/poll-says-3-of-4-new-yorkers-support-publicly-financed-elections/
Fact: 59% of Americans support our troops coming home from Afghanistan and Iraq now without delay.
http://www.thinkprogress.org/2011/05/11/afghanistan-get-out-59-percent/
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[this below posted online Feb. 17th to Post Star (daily paper for Saratoga, Warren, Washington counties); thx again tons to Vane Lashua of Mid-Hudson Progressive Alliance for helping to make this happen!]
Folk singer endorses Democratic challenger to Rep. Gibson
MAURY THOMPSON -- thompson@poststar.com
The Post-Star | Posted: Friday, February 17, 2012 7:54 pm
http://poststar.com/news/local/folk-singer-endorses-democratic-challenger-to-rep-gibson/article_c72d5418-59cb-11e1-9c46-001871e3ce6c.html
He may not have much money in his campaign fund, but Democratic congressional candidate Joel Tyner has an asset equally important to getting elected, said legendary folk singer Pete Seeger.
"He's got persistence, and as Calvin Coolidge said, 'Persistence is the one thing you need in this world because genius won't do it,' " Seeger said in a telephone interview on Friday, confirming his endorsement of Tyner's candidacy.
Seeger said he has known Tyner, a political activist, for about 10 or 20 years.
[JT note-- I've known Pete since '81(!)...(stayed at his house then, took care of boat-- "Woody Guthrie"]
Tyner, who is seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge U.S. Rep. Chris Gibson, R-Kinderhook, in November, announced Seeger's endorsement in a press release earlier on Friday..
"The world is full of geniuses who have failed, but if you have persistence, sooner or later you're going to make it. And Joel does have that, and he also is a very sensible guy and will do a lot of good things," Seeger said.
"On the other hand, you know what (Democratic presidential candidate) Adlai Stevenson said when somebody in 1952 said, 'Mr. Stevenson, all the intelligent people in the country are on your side,' " Seeger asked, going on to answer his own question. "And Stevenson said, 'I don't need all the intelligent people. I need a majority.' "
Tyner, a political activist and substitute school teacher, is serving his fifth term on the Dutchess County Legislature, a government board equivalent to boards of supervisors in other counties. Prior to getting elected, he ran five unsuccessful political campaigns - two for the county legislature and three for the state Legislature.
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From former Co. Leg. Bill McCabe (wmc1226@optonline.net):
"At its regular monthly meeting in February the Union Vale Democratic Committee officially endorsed Joel Tyner in his campaign to become our next representative in the US Congress for the 20th Congressional District. Committee member Bill McCabe describes Joel Tyner as tireless in his advocacy of Democratic principles. Joel's positions on the environment (against hydrofracking), the economy (a just tax policy that requires a fairer contribution from the top 2%), and government reform (independent re-districting panels) make him an ideal candidate to give voice to the issues of greatest concern to citizens of all parties in the Hudson Valley. Joel has been courageous as a Dutchess County Legislator, and he would do the same as our Representative in Washington, DC."
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Fact: Gibson voted with House majority in Sept. to allocate only half the FEMA funding Senate did.
[ http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2011/09/hincheytonko-right-re-fema-shame-on.html ]
Fact: Gibson voted for Ryan budget Apr. 15th against the disAbled-- by cutting Medicaid by 35%.
[ http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2011/12/gibson-forcing-people-with-disabilities.html ]
Fact: Gibson voted this winter for REINS-- jeopardizing food safety and Dodd-Frank provisions.
[ http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2011/12/another-bad-gibson-vote-this-week-for.html ]
Fact: Gibson's signing on to Grover Norquist's "no new tax" pledge means Congressman 1% will continue ignoring an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll in March finding that 81% of Americans support taxing millionaires to solve federal budget problems-- not putting Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security on chopping block (send me to Washington-- Joel will be an even louder voice telling both GOP and Dems to save all three of these from cuts.
[ http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/7333/what_americans_want_the_peoples_budget ;
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/invoke-the-14th--and-end-the-debt-standoff/2011/07/01/gHQAUif8yH_story.html ; http://www.PetitionOnline.com/ILikeIke ;
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/08/26/305451/citizen-slams-gop-rep-over-anti-tax-pledge-we-are-your-consituents-not-grover-norquist/ ]
Fact: Gibson refuses to support Obama's American Jobs Act-- and he also refuses to support Rep. Jan Schakowsky's even better "Emergency Jobs to Restore the American Dream Act", which would create 2.2 million jobs rebuilding our infrastructure and hiring in our schools, hospitals, child care centers, parks, police officers, firefighters, weatherization, and recycling-- by raising taxes for Americans who earn more than $1 million and $1 billion, by eliminating subsidies for big oil companies, and by closing loopholes for corporations that send American jobs overseas.
[see: http://www.AmericanJobsAct.com/ ; recall my http://www.PetitionOnline.com/JobsNow effort]
Fact: Gibson voted last fall to kill more American jobs by extending so-called "free-trade" agreements to Korea, Panama, and Colombia-- though we've already lost 5 million jobs from NAFTA.
[ http://blog.timesunion.com/capitol/archives/83832/tonko-gibson-at-odds-on-trade-agreements/ ;
http://www.americanjobsalliance.com/content/new-free-trade-pacts-will-hurt-middle-class ]
Fact: Gibson voted last February to eliminate $300 million in Title X Planned Parenthood funding-- even though "Title X funding can only be used for family planning services including birth control, life saving cervical and breast cancer screenings, HIV counseling and testing, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, and education. The funding cannot and is not used to provide abortion services. Under the proposal, 48 percent of Planned Parenthood patients nationwide would be cut off from their source of health care for these essential services. Ninety-seven percent of the services provided by Planned Parenthood are preventive, most of which are women's gynecology services."
http://www.plannedparenthood.org/about-us/newsroom/local-press-releases/representatives-gibson-hayworth-vote-block-funds-planned-parenthood-would-cut-health-care-milli-36335.htm
Fact: Gibson voted last fall for HR 358-- legislation that "would allow a hospital to deny a woman lifesaving emergency abortion care-even if a doctor deems it necessary. It would also take comprehensive health care coverage away from women and create loopholes that states and insurance companies could exploit to undermine the new requirement that insurance companies provide birth control with no co-pays or deductibles."
http://www.plannedparenthood.org/about-us/newsroom/local-press-releases/rep-gibson-votes-deny-lifesaving-emergency-health-care-women-38215.htm
Fact: Gibson's allegiance to Grover Norquist jeopardizes national support for farmland protection.
As Scenic Hudson noted recently on WAMC, it's crucial that even the small amount of federal funding for farmland protection ($100 million) now in the the farm bill about to be re-authorized be maintained-- the fact is this becomes more and more impossible with Norquist acolytes like Gibson in office who reject progressive taxation.
[ http://www.riverkeeper.org/news-events/news/stop-polluters/pollution-enforcement/outlining-vision/ ]
Fact: Gibson refuses to push for a wide variety of common-sense progressive initiatives that have broad populist support, as evidenced repeatedly by many polls-- a statewide ban on fracking (and immediate national moratorium), a liveable minimum wage, Medicare for all, Clean Money Clean Elections campaign finance reform, amending the Constitution to make it clear corporations aren't people, taxing Wall Street, breaking up the big banks, bringing back the Glass-Steagall Act, ending the speculation driving gas/oil prices up through the roof, bringing our troops now from Afghanistan, Iraq, and all over the globe to save $125 billion a year for taxpayers (and redirect $ home to our needs)-- and he refuses to lift a finger to join Sen. Bernie Sanders in seriously challenging the $16 TRILLION the Federal Reserve recently lent out to practically every major financial institution and corporation around.
[ http://www.AMillionFrackingLetters.com/ ; http://www.FrackAction.com/ ; http://www.ToxicsTargeting.com/
http://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=9e2a4ea8-6e73-4be2-a753-62060dcbb3c3
http://www.freespeechforpeople.org/node/75 ; http://www.PetitionOnline.com/FDRagain ;
http://www.thinkprogress.org/2011/05/11/afghanistan-get-out-59-percent ]
Fact: Rep. Chris Gibson voted Dec. 14th for the atrocious indefinite detention NDAA bill ("The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012-- (House Vote 932 - H.R.1540: On Agreeing to the Conference Report").
[see: http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2011/12/fact-gibson-voted-for-indefinite.html ;
http://www.politics.nytimes.com/congress/votes/112/house/1/932 ]
Fact: Rep. Maurice Hinchey, Rep. Paul Tonko, and 91 other Democratic (and principled) members of the House of Representatives voted Dec. 14th against the indefinite detention NDAA legislation.
[see: http://www.votesmart.org/bill/14203/37472/ ]
Fact: It wasn't just 93 Democrats in the House who voted against the indefinite detention NDAA bill; the truth is also that literally 43 GOP members of the House of Representatives (but not Chris Gibson) voted Dec. 14th against indefinite detention NDAA legislation-- all the following GOP (not Chris Gibson tho):
Republicans Justin Amah (MI-3), Larry Buchshon (IN-8), Michael Burgess (TX-26), Dan Burton (IN-5), John Campbell (CA-48), Jason Chaffetz (VT-3), Mike Coffman (CO-6), Scott DesJarlais (TN-4), Jeffrey Duncan (SC-3), John Duncan, Jr. (TN-2), Jeff Flake (AZ-6), J. Randy Forbes (VA-4), Scott Garrett (NJ-5), Robert Goodlatte (VA-6), Paul Gosar (AZ-1), Trey Gowdy (SC-4), Tom Graves (GA-9), Morgan Griffith (VA-9), Andy Harris (MD-1), Robert Hurt (VA-5), Tim Johnson (IL-15), Walter Jones (NC-3), Paul Labrador (ID-1), Cynthia Lumnis (WY-1), Connie Mack (FL-14), Tom McClintock (CA-4), Mick Mulvaney (SC-5), Mike Pence (IN-6), Bill Posey (FL-15), Reid Ribble (WI-8), Phil Roe (TN-1), Dana Rohrabacher (CA-46), Todd Rokita (IN-4), Ed Royce (CA-40), David Schweikert (AZ-5), Mike Simpson (ID-2), Marlin Stutzman (IN-3), Scott Tipton (CO-3), Tim Walberg (MI-7), Joe Walsh (IL-8), and Rob Woodall (GA-7)!
[see: http://www.opencongress.org/roll_call/show/9593 ]
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This-- from http://www.DCCC.org/races/district/new_yorks_20th ...
[more info here from Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee]
House Republicans voted for a radical budget that ends Medicare rather than ending taxpayer giveaways for Big Oil or tax breaks for the ultra rich. Republicans' [Chris Gibson's] plan would be devastating to seniors in the district who are currently enrolled in Medicare:
* Increase prescription drug costs for 11,200 Medicare beneficiaries in the district who would be caught in the "donut hole."
* Eliminate new preventative care benefits for 117,000 Medicare beneficiaries in the district.
Republicans' [Chris Gibson's] radical plan to end Medicare would also affect those 54 or younger who are not currently enrolled in Medicare:
* Deny 480,000 individuals age 54 and younger in the district access to Medicare's guaranteed benefits.
* Increase the out-of-pocket costs of health coverage by over $6,000 per year in 2022 and by almost $12,000 per year in 2032 for the 125,000 individuals in the district who are between the ages of 44 and 54.
speak out TODAY at 4 pm-- for Co. Leg. resolution to end corporate personhood-- everybody out!...
Hi all...
Come out if you can to speak up before the beginning of today's (Thursday's) Dutchess County Legislature Government Services and Administration Committee meeting at 4 pm (get there early to sign up)-- to help support our resolution opposing the Supreme Court's Citizens United 2010 decision!...
[mtg. will be on 6th floor of County Office Building at 22 Market St. in Poughkeepsie-- join us if you can]
Thx again tons to several of my colleagues-- Co. Leg.'s Barbara Jeter-Jackson, Alison MacAvery, and Francena Amparo-- for agreeing to co-sponsor the text I drafted on this for Dutchess Co. Leg. to pass!...
[full agenda today: http://www.co.dutchess.ny.us/CountyGov/Departments/Legislature/CLagenda.htm ;
text-- http://www.dutchessny.gov/CountyGov/Departments/Legislature/ResolutionsPDF/2012052.pdf ]
Important-- can't make it join us today?...email us all-- at countylegislators@co.dutchess.ny.us-- fwd...
[note, too-- would also be great if you folks could speak up as well for our resolution #2012054 to be passed too-- at beginning of our County Legislature's Budget, Finance, and Personnel Committee mtg. at 4:15 pm-- it's for Better Choice Budget coalition recommendations to close corporate tax loopholes(!):
http://www.dutchessny.gov/CountyGov/Departments/Legislature/ResolutionsPDF/2012054.pdf ]
Rome wasn't built in a day folks-- the journey of a million miles begins beneath one's feet; let's move!...
[pass it on]
Joel
845-444-0599/876-2488
joeltyner@earthlink.net
http://www.JoelforCongress.org
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel (220+ on board; join us!)
p.s. Good news: word has it that Du. County Dem Committee is also set to pass resolution on this too!...
###################################################
[here below-- letter I've sent to my 24 Co. Leg. colleagues on this]
From: Joel Tyner
To: countylegislators@co.dutchess.ny.us
Subject: Colleagues-- background info re: resolutions on corporate personhood, Better Choice Budget recommendations to stop property tax hikes...
Date: Mar 8, 2012 10:09 AM
Hi all...
Re: resolution #2012054 (for Better Choice Budget recommendations for NYS to avoid property tax hikes)-- please see:
http://www.ABetterChoiceforNY.org ;
http://www.fiscalpolicy.org/FPI_MauroBudgetTestimony_20120206.pdf
http://www.fiscalpolicy.org/FPI_BudgetBriefingBook_2012.pdf .
...and...
Re: resolution #2012052 ("opposing the Supreme Court's interpretation of the Constitution in Citizens United regarding the constitutional rights of corporations, calling on Congress to amend the Constitution to provide that corporations are not entitled to the entirety of protections or 'rights' of natural persons, specifically so that the expenditure of corporate money to influence the electoral process is no longer a form of constitutionally protected speech")...
Fact: Anti-corporate personhood resolutions have also recently passed in Albany, NYC, L.A., Boulder, Portland (ME), Portland (OR), Duluth (MI)-- see http://MovetoAmend.org/resolutions-map (scroll down for text of resolutions that passed on this in Albany and New York City).
Please see http://www.MovetoAmend.org -- and check out massive national coaltion @ http://www.United4thePeople.org -- all of the following organizations across the U.S. are calling for an amendment to the Constitution to make it clear that corporations aren't people-- and shouldn't enjoy the same free-speech rights that human beings do: People For the American Way, Public Citizen, Free Speech For People, Move to Amend, Common Cause, Center For Media and Democracy, Progressive Democrats of America, Alliance For Democracy, Democracy Unlimited, Liberty Tree, Program on Corporations Law & Democracy, Communications Workers of America, The Other 98%, MoveOn.org, Rainforest Action Network, U.S. PIRG, African American Ministers in Action, Backbone Campaign, California Church Impact, Campaign for America's Future, Campus Progress, Center for Corporate Policy, Center for Environmental Health, Center for Health, Environment & Justice, Center for Science in the Public Interest, Code Pink, Coffee Party USA, Consumer Action, Consumer Watchdog, Corporate Accountability International, Demos, Earthworks, Friends of the Earth, Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), Global Community Monitor, Grassroots Recycling Network, Greenpeace, Hip Hop Caucus, IATP, Indiana Alliance for Democracy, Institute for Policy Studies Global Economy Project, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, National Women's Health Network, Oil Change International, OMB Watch, Pesticide Action Network North America, 350.org, Rebuild the Dream, RootsAction, Sacramento for Democracy, Story of Stuff, Sum of Us, The New Bottom Line, United Republic, A New Way Forward, VPIRG, We the People Campaign, Wisconsin Wave, A project of the Liberty Tree Foundation, Wolf-PAC, Working Families Party, Democrats.com, Center For Biological Diversity, Main Street Alliance, Sierra Club, National Education Association, The 99% Declaration, Americans for Democratic Action, CivicSponsor, Ethical Markets, Food and Water Watch, Food Empowerment Project, Generation Waking Up, International Forum on Globalization, Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations, Veterans for Peace, Working Families Win, Public Campaign, Clean Water Network, Where's Our Money, and many others.
Did you all know what happened just two days ago this Tuesday?
"At least 56 cities and towns in Vermont voted nearly unanimously Tuesday on local resolutions challenging corporate personhood (see: http://www.Citizen.org/Towns ). Support for the resolution cut across party lines. Six towns in Republican districts and 13 cities and towns that have sent both Democrats and Republicans to the state Legislature voted for the resolution by wide margins. This bipartisan opposition to the Citizens United ruling mirrors several nationwide polls on the issue. We expect similar demonstrations of support throughout the country in the coming months. Today, Public Citizen is launching Resolutions Week, a campaign to get as many local pro-amendment resolutions passed as possible in the second week of June. Already more than 500 Public Citizen activists in 300 cities and towns have signed up to help pass resolutions in their towns. Public Citizen is coordinating the effort with a number of other groups, including the Communications Workers of America, U.S. PIRG, Main Street Alliance, the Move to Amend coalition and People For the American Way."
[from: "A Super Tuesday as Vermont Pushed to Overturn Citizens United" by Aquene Freechild
(Aquene Freechild is Senior Organizer for Public Citizen's Democracy Is For People Campaign)
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/03/07-12 ]
Recall this from last month as well-- "The New Mexico state Senate voted 20-9 over the weekend to approve Senate Memorial 3, which calls on the Congress to pass and send to the states for ratification a constitutional amendment to overturn the US Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United v. FEC. The Citizens United ruling was one of several that opened the floodgates for corporate special-interest money to overwhelm the political process. The New Mexico Senate vote, which follows on a January 31 vote by the New Mexico House, aligns the state with Hawaii in calling for the amendment. "
[from "New Mexico Legislature to Congress: Amend Against 'Citizens United'" by John Nichols
http://www.thenation.com/blog/166222/new-mexico-legislature-congress-amend-against-citizens-united ]
"Public Citizen - along with Move to Amend/Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Vermont Peace and Justice Center, VPIRG, Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility, Rural Vermont, Common Cause Vermont, Occupy Burlington, Vermonters Say Corporations Are Not People, Vermont Action for Peace, Vermont Workers Center, and Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield (co-founders of Ben & Jerry's ice cream) - worked with Vermont activists to collect signatures and get the resolutions on town meeting agendas."
[from: "55 Vermont Towns Affirm: 'Corporations Are Not People'" (CommonDreams.org today)
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/03/07-1 ]
Recall as well:
"Citizens United Backlash Grows from Cali.-NYC Urging Congress to Overturn Corporate Personhood"
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/1/5/citizens_united_backlash_grows_from_cali
[also see: "Super Tuesday's Big Winner Is Already Settled" by Katrina vanden Heuvel (Tues. Wash. Post):
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/03/06-2 (scroll down all the way to bottom to see full text)]
Hope we can all pull together to rein in the influence of corporations today-- and send strong message to
Albany as well that keeping property taxes down is more important than preserving corporate loopholes!...
See y'all in a bit...
Joel
444-0599
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New Mexico Legislature to Congress: Amend Against 'Citizens United'
John Nichols on February 13, 2012 - 2:55 PM ET
http://www.thenation.com/blog/166222/new-mexico-legislature-congress-amend-against-citizens-united
The Constitution of the United States can be amended in two formal ways: from the top down and from the bottom up.
But New Mexico legislators have found a third way and, hopefully, other state legislators around the country will follow their lead.
The US Constitution is traditionally amended via a process that begins with the endorsement of an amendment by the US House and US Senate and then the ratification of that amendment by the requisite three-fourths of state legislatures. That's the top-down route. The bottom-up route begins when two-thirds of the state legislatures ask Congress to call a national convention to propose amendments.
But what if a state legislature tells Congress to get moving?
That's what happened over the weekend, when the New Mexico state Senate voted 20-9 to approve Senate Memorial 3, which calls on the Congress to pass and send to the states for ratification a constitutional amendment to overturn the US Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United v. FEC. The Citizens United ruling was one of several that opened the floodgates for corporate special-interest money to overwhelm the political process.
The New Mexico Senate vote, which follows on a January 31 vote by the New Mexico House, aligns the state with Hawaii in calling for the amendment. And it gives a big boost to the campaigning by Free Speech for People, Move to Amend, Common Cause and other groups that are working on various strategies to get communities and states nationwide to demand an amendment.
"This marks a major victory for the constitutional amendment movement to reclaim our democracy," says John Bonifaz, executive director of Free Speech for People, the national nonpartisan campaign launched on the day of the US Supreme Court's Citizens United decision to press for a Twenty-eighth Amendment to the US Constitution to overturn the ruling. "The Citizens United ruling presents a direct and serious threat to the integrity of our elections, unleashing a torrent of corporate money into our political process. The ruling is also the most extreme extension yet of a corporate rights doctrine which has been eroding our First Amendment and our US Constitution for the past 30 years. As with prior egregious Supreme Court rulings which threatened our democracy, we the people must exercise our power under Article V of the Constitution to enact a constitutional amendment which will preserve the promise of American self-government: of, for, and by the people."
Free Speech for People initiated the New Mexico push, and worked closely with New Mexico State Senators Steve Fischmann and Eric Griego and State Representative Mimi Stewart to advance it. Support came from the Center for Civic Policy, Common Cause New Mexico, the League of Women Voters of New Mexico, the New Mexico Green Chamber of Commerce, El Centro, the Southwest Organizing Project, All Families Matter, the New Mexico Trial Lawyers Association, the Native American Voter Alliance, Progress Now and Move On.
The New Mexico move is important, as it comes at the start of a year when activist groups are seeking to ramp up support for an amendment.
"Through Amend 2012, the campaign we formally launched last month, Common Cause helped secure [victories in communities across the county]," says Common Cause President Bob Edgar. "As you know, Amend2012 aims to give voters in as many states as possible an opportunity to make their voices heard now, during the 2012 elections, on the need to overturn Citizens United. Common Cause is working to give voters the tools to put 'voter instruction' measures on the November ballot in as many states as possible, either by voter initiative or action by the state legislature. The measures would instruct Congress to adopt a constitutional amendment to make it clear that corporations are not people and authorize campaign spending limits."
The idea is catching on in the states. And with people who may be in Congress soon.
New Mexico Senator Eric Griego, an amendment proponent in that state, is running for the US House this year.
So, too, is Wisconsin state Representative Mark Pocan, D-Madison, who is co-sponsoring pro-amendment legislation.
Because so many state legislatures end up as Congressional contenders-and members of Congress-the fight to get states to tell Congress to amend the Constitution pays double bonuses. It sends a message and, depending on the election results this year, it could send more champions of the amendment movement to Congress.
John Nichols's new book on protests and politics, Uprising: How Wisconsin Renewed the Politics of Protest, from Madison to Wall Street, will be published next week by Nation Books. Follow John Nichols on Twitter @NicholsUprising.
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From http://www.thenation.com/blog/165778/eleven-shocking-facts-about-campaign-finance ...
Eleven Shocking Facts About Campaign Finance
George Zornick on January 20, 2012 - 1:57 PM ET
It's been two years since the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission, allowing a torrent of secret money to flow into the political process.
To be clear, the corrupting influence of big money was distorting the democratic process for years before that decision. But it unquestionably made the problem worse, exacerbating both the volume and secrecy of campaign donations.
Here's eleven disturbing facts about the extent to which money is playing an increasing role in our politics:
* The amount of independent expenditure and electioneering communication spending by outside groups has quadrupled since 2006. [Center for Responsive Politics]
* The percentage of spending coming from groups that do not disclose their donors has risen from 1 percent to 47 percent since the 2006 mid-term elections. [Center for Responsive Politics]
* Campaign receipts for members of the House of Representatives totaled $1.9 billion in 2010-up from $781 million in 1998. [Committee for Economic Development]
* Outside groups spent more on political advertising in 2010 than party committees-for the first time in at least two decades. [Center for Responsive Politics]
* A shocking 72 percent of political advertising by outside groups in 2010 came from sources that were prohibited from spending money in 2006. [Committee for Economic Development]
* In 2004, 97.9 percent of outside groups disclosed their donors. In 2010, 34.0 percent did. [Committee for Economic Development]
* In 2010, the US Chamber of Commerce spent $31,207,114 in electioneering communications. The contributions for which it disclosed the donors: $0. [Committee for Economic Development]
* Only 26,783 Americans donated more than $10,000 to federal campaigns in 2010-or, about one in 10,000 Americans. Their donations accounted for 24.3 percent of total campaign donations. [Sunlight Foundation]
* Average donation from that elite group was $28,913. (The median individual income in America is $26,364) [Sunlight Foundation]
* Amount the Karl Rove-led Crossroads GPS says it will spend on the 2012 elections: $240 million. [On the Media]
* Amount that President Obama has raised from the financial sector already for his 2012 re-election: $15.6 million [Washington Post]
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From: Cashawna Parker (parkerc@ci.albany.ny.us)
Subject: Resolution Against Corporate Personhood
Date: Jan 6, 2012 12:17 PM
The resolution that the Albany Common Council passed is below.
Cashawna Parker
Senior Legislative Aide to the
Albany Common Council
(518) 434-5087
Council Members Calsolaro, Fahey, Golby, Konev, O'Brien, Sano and Smith introduced the following, which was approved:
Resolution Number 93.121.11R (As amended prior to introduction)
RESOLUTION SUPPORTING THE MOVE TO AMEND CAMPAIGN RELATING TO CORPORATE PERSONHOOD AS DECIDED IN CITIZENS UNITED VS. FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION; CALLING ON CONGRESS TO PASS LEGISLATION LIMITING CORPORATE PERSONHOOD TO THE HISTORIC PARAMETERS AS SET FORTH IN THE 1886 SUPREME COURT DECISION IN SANTA CLARA COUNTY VS. SOUTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD; AND SUPPORTING FEDERAL LEGISLATION REQUIRING DISCLOSURE OF DONORS TO ORGANIZATIONS MAKING POLITICAL EXPENDITURES
WHEREAS, government of, by, and for the people has long been a cherished American value, and We The People's fundamental and inalienable right to self-govern, and thereby secure rights to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness is guaranteed in the US Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, and;
WHEREAS, free and fair elections are essential to democracy and effective self-
governance, and;
WHEREAS, persons are rightfully recognized as human beings whose essential needs include clean air, clean water, safe and secure food, and;
WHEREAS, corporations are entirely human-made legal fictions created by express permission of We The People and our government, and;
WHEREAS, corporations can exist in perpetuity, can exist simultaneously in many nations at once, need only profit for survival, and exist solely through the legal charter imposed by the government of We The People, and;
WHEREAS, in addition to these advantages, the great wealth of large corporations allows them to wield coercive force of law to overpower human beings and communities that can affect We The People's exercise of our Constitutional rights, and;
WHEREAS, in the 1886 Supreme Court decision in Santa Clara vs. Southern Pacific Railroad, the United States Supreme Court ruled that only certain, specified rights for "persons" can be extended to corporations, and this decision has been the basis for corporate personhood for more than one hundred years, until the Citizens United decision in 2010, and;
WHEREAS, in the dissenting opinion in the Citizens United decision, Justice Stevens wrote that, ". . . in a variety of contexts, we have held that speech can be regulated differentially on account of the speaker's identity, when identity is understood in categorical or institutional terms." The dissent concludes that ". . . the Court's opinion is thus a rejection of the common sense of the American people . . . .", and;
WHEREAS, in response to the Citizens United decision, United States Senator Charles Schumer introduced legislation to ban foreign-controlled corporations and government contractors from making political expenditures and also requiring disclosure of donors to organizations making political expenditures, and;
WHEREAS, corporations are not and have never been human beings, and therefore are rightfully subservient to human beings and governments as our legal creations, and;
WHEREAS, the recent Citizens United v. the Federal Election Commission Supreme Court decision that rolled back the legal limits on corporate spending in the electoral process creates an unequal playing field and allows unlimited corporate spending to influence elections, candidate selection, policy decisions and sway votes, and forces elected officials to divert their attention from The Peoples' business, or even vote against the interest of their human constituents, in order to ensure competitive campaign funds for their own re-election, and;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Common Council of the City of Albany states its support for the Move to Amend campaign relating to corporate personhood as decided in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and calling on Congress to pass legislation limiting corporate personhood to its historic parameters as decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in Santa Clara vs. Southern Pacific Railroad.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that copies of this resolution be transmitted to United States Senators Charles Schumer and Kirstin Gillibrand and United States Representative Paul Tonko.
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From: "Freedman-Schnapp, Michael" mfreedman-schnapp@council.nyc.gov
Subject: NYC Citizens United resolution text
Date: Jan 6, 2012 11:41 AM
The text for Res 1172 can be found at this link and I have copied the text below as well.
Michael Freedman-Schnapp
Office of Councilmember Brad Lander
Director of Policy
mfreedman-schnapp@council.nyc.gov
718-499-1090/212-788-6969
http://legistar.council.nyc.gov/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=1020081&GUID=7B877E8C-4823-4AC3-B283-406534448686&Options=ID|Text|&Search=1172
Res. No. 1172
Resolution opposing the United State Supreme Court's interpretation of the Constitution in Citizens United regarding the constitutional rights of corporations, supporting an amendment to the Constitution to provide that corporations are not entitled to the entirety of protections or "rights" of natural persons, specifically so that the expenditure of corporate money to influence the electoral process is no longer a form of constitutionally protected speech, and calling on Congress to begin the process of amending the Constitution.
By Council Members Lander, Mark-Viverito, The Speaker (Council Member Quinn), Brewer, Levin, Chin, James, Rose, Van Bramer, Garodnick, Vann, Gennaro, Barron, Comrie, Jackson, Palma, Reyna, Sanders Jr., Williams, Rodriguez, Koppell, Arroyo, Ferreras, Mendez., Crowley, Eugene and Wills
Whereas, In 2010 the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, holding that independent spending on elections by corporations and other groups could not be limited by government regulations; and
Whereas, This decision rolled back the legal restrictions on corporate spending in the electoral process, allowing for unlimited corporate spending to influence elections, candidate selection, and policy decisions; and
Whereas, In reaching its decision, a majority of the Supreme Court, relying on prior decisions, interpreted the First Amendment of the Constitution to afford corporations the same free speech protections as natural persons; and
Whereas, In his eloquent dissent, Justice John Paul Stevens rightly recognized that "corporations have no consciences, no beliefs, no feelings, no thoughts, no desires. Corporations help structure and facilitate the activities of human beings, to be sure, and their 'personhood' often serves as a useful legal fiction. But they are not themselves members of 'We the People' by whom and for whom our Constitution was established"; and
Whereas, The Court's decision in Citizens United severely hampers the ability of federal, state and local governments to enact reasonable campaign finance reforms and regulations regarding corporate political activity; and
Whereas, Corporations should not be afforded the entirety of protections or "rights" of natural persons, such that the expenditure of corporate money to influence the electoral process is a form of constitutionally protected speech; and
Whereas, several proposed amendments to the Constitution have been introduced in Congress that would allow governments to regulate the raising and spending of money by corporations to influence elections; now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York opposes the Supreme Court's interpretation of the Constitution in Citizens United regarding the constitutional rights of corporations, and supports amending the Constitution to provide that corporations are not entitled to the entirety of protections or "rights" of natural persons, specifically so that the expenditure of corporate money to influence the electoral process is no longer a form of constitutionally protected speech, and calls on Congress to begin the process of amending the Constitution.
SAG
LS# 3125
12/12/11
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From http://www.HuffingtonPost.com (also see http://www.NYCProgressives.com )...
New York City Council Passes Resolution Opposing Corporate Personhood
First Posted: 1/5/12 12:29 PM ET Updated: 1/5/12 01:54 PM ET
The New York City Council symbolically passed a resolution Wednesday opposing "corporate personhood." Resolution 1172 formally expressed disapproval of the landmark US Supreme Court decision in Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission, which declared that corporations have the same first amendment rights as people.
The bill, which urges Congress to take action against corporate personhood, was sponsored by councilmembers Brad Lander, Melissa Mark-Viverito and Steve Levin, all members of the Progressive Caucus. After the vote, the Caucus released a statement, which read in part:
"As our support of this resolution demonstrates, restoring confidence in government and strengthening democratic participation is a core principle of the Progressive Caucus. We believe that corporations should not share the same rights as people, that unlimited and unreported corporate donations meant to sway the electoral process should not be considered freedom of speech, and that the government should regulate the raising and spending of money by corporations intended to influence elections. We cannot allow corporate money to manipulate our democracy."
Occupy Wall Street's New York General Assembly voted to support the resolution. Corporate personhood has been a target of Occupy since the movement began in September.
The non-binding resolution passed along party lines with 41 yes-votes from Democrats, five no-votes from all five Council Republicans and one abstention from Democrat Peter Vallone.
Speaking at the hearing, Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Queens) spoke against the resolution, but was nearly drowned out by the boos and hisses of Occupy Wall Street protesters in attendance, The Gotham Gazette reports. "Corporations are people," he said. "All their money goes back to the people."
The New York City Council joins a growing list of local governments across the US who have passed similar resolutions, including Los Angeles, Albany, Boulder and Oakland.
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From http://www.CivSourceOnline.com ...
Cities, states pass resolutions against corporate personhood
January 4, 2012 @ Bailey McCann
Several cities and states are passing resolutions against corporate personhood. The resolutions are the result of Supreme Court decision, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission which gave corporations the same first amendment rights as individuals and thereby opening the floodgates for money in politics in the US. Cities and states with rules governing political contributions on the books and even some without are hoping that these resolutions will curb the impact of that decision or provide momentum to overturn it completely.
Los Angeles, Oakland, Albany and Boulder have all passed city council resolutions invalidating the concept of corporate personhood. New York City voted this afternoon to join them, with a resolution creating clear dividing lines between the rights of corporations and citizens in Manhattan. The New York decision is notable for both the size of Manhattan but also the size of its business community and the potential impact of such a resolution. Cities across the country are looking at similar resolutions in attempt to restore order in their localities as Super Political Action Committees (PACs) make unprecedented forays into local elections.
On Friday, Montana's Supreme Court restored a 100-year old provision banning corporate spending in local politics. According to the court, even though the Supreme Court ruling strikes federal spending limits, it does not specifically prohibit state spending laws. The court held that the state's Corrupt Practices Act, thus complies with the U.S. Supreme Court's January 2010 ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission.
Vermont introduced a measure in the state legislature last week that calls on Congress to create a constitutional amendment separating the rights of individuals from those of corporations. California is expected to be the next state to take up a state-level resolution calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens United decision.
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From http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/03/06-2 ...
Published on Tuesday, March 6, 2012 by Washington Post
Super Tuesday's Big Winner Is Already Settled
by Katrina vanden Heuvel
The polls haven't closed, but here's one thing we already know: The big winners of Super Tuesday are the super PACs and big-money politics. In the run-up to Tuesday's vote, the super PACs' farcically described "independent expenditures" were far greater than the spending of the candidates' campaigns.
A Las Vegas billionaire single-handedly has kept Newt Gingrich in the race. Mitt Romney's "vulture capitalist" biography may raise doubts in some voters' minds, but it has helped him sweep the money primary. And while Romney has found it hard to win significant support from Republican voters, his "independent" super PAC - Restore Our Future - has used that dough to carpet-bomb with negative ads any opponent who has risen to challenge him.
The supposed "independence" of the super PACs reaches barely a legal fiction. Former aides or fundraisers run the entities. The campaigns alert donors as to which "independent" entity is designated for support. President Obama is delegating Cabinet and White House officials to attend fundraisers for Priorities USA Action, his "independent" super PAC. His 2008 campaign director, David Plouffe, now coordinating messaging in the White House, is out helping to raise the money.
Ahead of Super Tuesday, the Romney campaign spent little money outside of Ohio. Not surprisingly, his "independent" super PAC ramped up its spending in the other states to spearhead the Romney attack. The Gingrich campaign took this to the point of absurdity, running no advertising in the Super Tuesday primaries while his super PAC, Winning Our Future - funded almost entirely by one donor - carried the banner, spending $3.7 million in the primary states.
The alleged independence of the super PACs lets them do the dirty work without the candidate taking responsibility. The result is an increasingly ugly campaign, deluged with negative attack ads. In Ohio, a key battleground state, the groups associated with Romney, Gingrich and Santorum spent about $4 million in advertising. Of the 11 presidential election commercials run on Ohio TV since February 1, all but one were negative attack ads, according to the Kantar Media's Campaign Media Analysis Group.
What we've seen, however, is merely the first glass before the bender, the blowout that will come this fall. The fall election will feature an estimated $3 billion in negative ads, many purveyed not by super PACs, which at least have to reveal their donors, but by associated "advocacy groups" that are not required to do so. That is where the corporations and the Wall Street barons are likely to play. The candidates will know who anted up the big money, but the voters will not.
The infamous Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. FEC, ruling that corporations as well as individuals could give unlimited amounts to "independent" expenditure entities, opened the floodgates. Writing for the majority, Justice Anthony Kennedy ruled that corporations had the same rights as people to speech, and thus to unlimited expenditures in campaigns. That right might be balanced, he admitted, by the public concern about corruption of elections and officials. Then he bizarrely concluded - without bothering to offer any evidence - that independent corporate expenditures in elections, even in secret, "do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption."
The Citizens United decision was to our democracy what congressional repeal of the Glass-Steagall regulation of banking was to our economy. In both cases, money had already eroded the regulatory system. But the formal repeal of regulation removed any sense of constraint.
Now, Montana's Supreme Court has offered the Supreme Court a chance to reconsider its folly. In defiance of Citizens United, the court upheld a 100-year-old state law that bans corporate money in campaigns, arguing that, given Montana's early history of corporate money corrupting elected officials, the state ban served a compelling interest. As Attorney General Steve Bullock noted, "Our legislature, our judges, down to the local county assessors, were almost bought and paid for. Mark Twain even said that, you know, the amount of money coming in in Montana makes the smell of corruption almost sweet."
The Supreme Court immediately issued a stay of the court ruling, pending a formal appeal. But in a separate note, Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer suggested the Montana case offered the Supreme Court's five-person majority a change to reconsider a bad decision.
"Montana's experience and experience elsewhere," they wrote, "make it exceedingly difficult to maintain that independent expenditures by corporations 'do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption.' " (Note the echo of Kennedy's words in Citizens United.) The appeal "will give the court an opportunity to consider whether, in light of the huge sums currently deployed to buy candidates' allegiance, Citizens United should continue to hold sway."
Across the country, a fierce reaction to the corruption of our politics has begun to build. Some 20 senators have joined in co-sponsoring a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United. The New Mexico legislature just passed a resolution calling on Congress to move to amend. Similar resolutions have been introduced in Massachusetts, Wisconsin and Maine. Major cities - New York, Portland, and Los Angeles - have also acted.
Since a constitutional amendment would take years to pass, Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) has introduced a bill requiring that super PACs and shadow groups disclose donors and spending every 24 hours on the Web. The groups' TV ads would have to list the top five donors. Corporations and unions would have to detail their political spending to stockholders and members. This modest effort to bring transparency to an opaque process faces entrenched Republican opposition.
We don't know who will win the elections this fall. But we know that the flood of independent and secret money will be unprecedented, funding salvos of negative ads that will foul the airwaves and disgust voters. And as voters increasingly view our politics as a corrupted playground for deep pocket donors, the Supreme Court majority might want to reconsider its unpopular decision.
© 2012 Washington Post
Katrina vanden Heuvel is editor of The Nation.
Come out if you can to speak up before the beginning of today's (Thursday's) Dutchess County Legislature Government Services and Administration Committee meeting at 4 pm (get there early to sign up)-- to help support our resolution opposing the Supreme Court's Citizens United 2010 decision!...
[mtg. will be on 6th floor of County Office Building at 22 Market St. in Poughkeepsie-- join us if you can]
Thx again tons to several of my colleagues-- Co. Leg.'s Barbara Jeter-Jackson, Alison MacAvery, and Francena Amparo-- for agreeing to co-sponsor the text I drafted on this for Dutchess Co. Leg. to pass!...
[full agenda today: http://www.co.dutchess.ny.us/CountyGov/Departments/Legislature/CLagenda.htm ;
text-- http://www.dutchessny.gov/CountyGov/Departments/Legislature/ResolutionsPDF/2012052.pdf ]
Important-- can't make it join us today?...email us all-- at countylegislators@co.dutchess.ny.us-- fwd...
[note, too-- would also be great if you folks could speak up as well for our resolution #2012054 to be passed too-- at beginning of our County Legislature's Budget, Finance, and Personnel Committee mtg. at 4:15 pm-- it's for Better Choice Budget coalition recommendations to close corporate tax loopholes(!):
http://www.dutchessny.gov/CountyGov/Departments/Legislature/ResolutionsPDF/2012054.pdf ]
Rome wasn't built in a day folks-- the journey of a million miles begins beneath one's feet; let's move!...
[pass it on]
Joel
845-444-0599/876-2488
joeltyner@earthlink.net
http://www.JoelforCongress.org
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel (220+ on board; join us!)
p.s. Good news: word has it that Du. County Dem Committee is also set to pass resolution on this too!...
###################################################
[here below-- letter I've sent to my 24 Co. Leg. colleagues on this]
From: Joel Tyner
To: countylegislators@co.dutchess.ny.us
Subject: Colleagues-- background info re: resolutions on corporate personhood, Better Choice Budget recommendations to stop property tax hikes...
Date: Mar 8, 2012 10:09 AM
Hi all...
Re: resolution #2012054 (for Better Choice Budget recommendations for NYS to avoid property tax hikes)-- please see:
http://www.ABetterChoiceforNY.org ;
http://www.fiscalpolicy.org/FPI_MauroBudgetTestimony_20120206.pdf
http://www.fiscalpolicy.org/FPI_BudgetBriefingBook_2012.pdf .
...and...
Re: resolution #2012052 ("opposing the Supreme Court's interpretation of the Constitution in Citizens United regarding the constitutional rights of corporations, calling on Congress to amend the Constitution to provide that corporations are not entitled to the entirety of protections or 'rights' of natural persons, specifically so that the expenditure of corporate money to influence the electoral process is no longer a form of constitutionally protected speech")...
Fact: Anti-corporate personhood resolutions have also recently passed in Albany, NYC, L.A., Boulder, Portland (ME), Portland (OR), Duluth (MI)-- see http://MovetoAmend.org/resolutions-map (scroll down for text of resolutions that passed on this in Albany and New York City).
Please see http://www.MovetoAmend.org -- and check out massive national coaltion @ http://www.United4thePeople.org -- all of the following organizations across the U.S. are calling for an amendment to the Constitution to make it clear that corporations aren't people-- and shouldn't enjoy the same free-speech rights that human beings do: People For the American Way, Public Citizen, Free Speech For People, Move to Amend, Common Cause, Center For Media and Democracy, Progressive Democrats of America, Alliance For Democracy, Democracy Unlimited, Liberty Tree, Program on Corporations Law & Democracy, Communications Workers of America, The Other 98%, MoveOn.org, Rainforest Action Network, U.S. PIRG, African American Ministers in Action, Backbone Campaign, California Church Impact, Campaign for America's Future, Campus Progress, Center for Corporate Policy, Center for Environmental Health, Center for Health, Environment & Justice, Center for Science in the Public Interest, Code Pink, Coffee Party USA, Consumer Action, Consumer Watchdog, Corporate Accountability International, Demos, Earthworks, Friends of the Earth, Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), Global Community Monitor, Grassroots Recycling Network, Greenpeace, Hip Hop Caucus, IATP, Indiana Alliance for Democracy, Institute for Policy Studies Global Economy Project, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, National Women's Health Network, Oil Change International, OMB Watch, Pesticide Action Network North America, 350.org, Rebuild the Dream, RootsAction, Sacramento for Democracy, Story of Stuff, Sum of Us, The New Bottom Line, United Republic, A New Way Forward, VPIRG, We the People Campaign, Wisconsin Wave, A project of the Liberty Tree Foundation, Wolf-PAC, Working Families Party, Democrats.com, Center For Biological Diversity, Main Street Alliance, Sierra Club, National Education Association, The 99% Declaration, Americans for Democratic Action, CivicSponsor, Ethical Markets, Food and Water Watch, Food Empowerment Project, Generation Waking Up, International Forum on Globalization, Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations, Veterans for Peace, Working Families Win, Public Campaign, Clean Water Network, Where's Our Money, and many others.
Did you all know what happened just two days ago this Tuesday?
"At least 56 cities and towns in Vermont voted nearly unanimously Tuesday on local resolutions challenging corporate personhood (see: http://www.Citizen.org/Towns ). Support for the resolution cut across party lines. Six towns in Republican districts and 13 cities and towns that have sent both Democrats and Republicans to the state Legislature voted for the resolution by wide margins. This bipartisan opposition to the Citizens United ruling mirrors several nationwide polls on the issue. We expect similar demonstrations of support throughout the country in the coming months. Today, Public Citizen is launching Resolutions Week, a campaign to get as many local pro-amendment resolutions passed as possible in the second week of June. Already more than 500 Public Citizen activists in 300 cities and towns have signed up to help pass resolutions in their towns. Public Citizen is coordinating the effort with a number of other groups, including the Communications Workers of America, U.S. PIRG, Main Street Alliance, the Move to Amend coalition and People For the American Way."
[from: "A Super Tuesday as Vermont Pushed to Overturn Citizens United" by Aquene Freechild
(Aquene Freechild is Senior Organizer for Public Citizen's Democracy Is For People Campaign)
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/03/07-12 ]
Recall this from last month as well-- "The New Mexico state Senate voted 20-9 over the weekend to approve Senate Memorial 3, which calls on the Congress to pass and send to the states for ratification a constitutional amendment to overturn the US Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United v. FEC. The Citizens United ruling was one of several that opened the floodgates for corporate special-interest money to overwhelm the political process. The New Mexico Senate vote, which follows on a January 31 vote by the New Mexico House, aligns the state with Hawaii in calling for the amendment. "
[from "New Mexico Legislature to Congress: Amend Against 'Citizens United'" by John Nichols
http://www.thenation.com/blog/166222/new-mexico-legislature-congress-amend-against-citizens-united ]
"Public Citizen - along with Move to Amend/Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Vermont Peace and Justice Center, VPIRG, Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility, Rural Vermont, Common Cause Vermont, Occupy Burlington, Vermonters Say Corporations Are Not People, Vermont Action for Peace, Vermont Workers Center, and Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield (co-founders of Ben & Jerry's ice cream) - worked with Vermont activists to collect signatures and get the resolutions on town meeting agendas."
[from: "55 Vermont Towns Affirm: 'Corporations Are Not People'" (CommonDreams.org today)
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/03/07-1 ]
Recall as well:
"Citizens United Backlash Grows from Cali.-NYC Urging Congress to Overturn Corporate Personhood"
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/1/5/citizens_united_backlash_grows_from_cali
[also see: "Super Tuesday's Big Winner Is Already Settled" by Katrina vanden Heuvel (Tues. Wash. Post):
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/03/06-2 (scroll down all the way to bottom to see full text)]
Hope we can all pull together to rein in the influence of corporations today-- and send strong message to
Albany as well that keeping property taxes down is more important than preserving corporate loopholes!...
See y'all in a bit...
Joel
444-0599
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New Mexico Legislature to Congress: Amend Against 'Citizens United'
John Nichols on February 13, 2012 - 2:55 PM ET
http://www.thenation.com/blog/166222/new-mexico-legislature-congress-amend-against-citizens-united
The Constitution of the United States can be amended in two formal ways: from the top down and from the bottom up.
But New Mexico legislators have found a third way and, hopefully, other state legislators around the country will follow their lead.
The US Constitution is traditionally amended via a process that begins with the endorsement of an amendment by the US House and US Senate and then the ratification of that amendment by the requisite three-fourths of state legislatures. That's the top-down route. The bottom-up route begins when two-thirds of the state legislatures ask Congress to call a national convention to propose amendments.
But what if a state legislature tells Congress to get moving?
That's what happened over the weekend, when the New Mexico state Senate voted 20-9 to approve Senate Memorial 3, which calls on the Congress to pass and send to the states for ratification a constitutional amendment to overturn the US Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United v. FEC. The Citizens United ruling was one of several that opened the floodgates for corporate special-interest money to overwhelm the political process.
The New Mexico Senate vote, which follows on a January 31 vote by the New Mexico House, aligns the state with Hawaii in calling for the amendment. And it gives a big boost to the campaigning by Free Speech for People, Move to Amend, Common Cause and other groups that are working on various strategies to get communities and states nationwide to demand an amendment.
"This marks a major victory for the constitutional amendment movement to reclaim our democracy," says John Bonifaz, executive director of Free Speech for People, the national nonpartisan campaign launched on the day of the US Supreme Court's Citizens United decision to press for a Twenty-eighth Amendment to the US Constitution to overturn the ruling. "The Citizens United ruling presents a direct and serious threat to the integrity of our elections, unleashing a torrent of corporate money into our political process. The ruling is also the most extreme extension yet of a corporate rights doctrine which has been eroding our First Amendment and our US Constitution for the past 30 years. As with prior egregious Supreme Court rulings which threatened our democracy, we the people must exercise our power under Article V of the Constitution to enact a constitutional amendment which will preserve the promise of American self-government: of, for, and by the people."
Free Speech for People initiated the New Mexico push, and worked closely with New Mexico State Senators Steve Fischmann and Eric Griego and State Representative Mimi Stewart to advance it. Support came from the Center for Civic Policy, Common Cause New Mexico, the League of Women Voters of New Mexico, the New Mexico Green Chamber of Commerce, El Centro, the Southwest Organizing Project, All Families Matter, the New Mexico Trial Lawyers Association, the Native American Voter Alliance, Progress Now and Move On.
The New Mexico move is important, as it comes at the start of a year when activist groups are seeking to ramp up support for an amendment.
"Through Amend 2012, the campaign we formally launched last month, Common Cause helped secure [victories in communities across the county]," says Common Cause President Bob Edgar. "As you know, Amend2012 aims to give voters in as many states as possible an opportunity to make their voices heard now, during the 2012 elections, on the need to overturn Citizens United. Common Cause is working to give voters the tools to put 'voter instruction' measures on the November ballot in as many states as possible, either by voter initiative or action by the state legislature. The measures would instruct Congress to adopt a constitutional amendment to make it clear that corporations are not people and authorize campaign spending limits."
The idea is catching on in the states. And with people who may be in Congress soon.
New Mexico Senator Eric Griego, an amendment proponent in that state, is running for the US House this year.
So, too, is Wisconsin state Representative Mark Pocan, D-Madison, who is co-sponsoring pro-amendment legislation.
Because so many state legislatures end up as Congressional contenders-and members of Congress-the fight to get states to tell Congress to amend the Constitution pays double bonuses. It sends a message and, depending on the election results this year, it could send more champions of the amendment movement to Congress.
John Nichols's new book on protests and politics, Uprising: How Wisconsin Renewed the Politics of Protest, from Madison to Wall Street, will be published next week by Nation Books. Follow John Nichols on Twitter @NicholsUprising.
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From http://www.thenation.com/blog/165778/eleven-shocking-facts-about-campaign-finance ...
Eleven Shocking Facts About Campaign Finance
George Zornick on January 20, 2012 - 1:57 PM ET
It's been two years since the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission, allowing a torrent of secret money to flow into the political process.
To be clear, the corrupting influence of big money was distorting the democratic process for years before that decision. But it unquestionably made the problem worse, exacerbating both the volume and secrecy of campaign donations.
Here's eleven disturbing facts about the extent to which money is playing an increasing role in our politics:
* The amount of independent expenditure and electioneering communication spending by outside groups has quadrupled since 2006. [Center for Responsive Politics]
* The percentage of spending coming from groups that do not disclose their donors has risen from 1 percent to 47 percent since the 2006 mid-term elections. [Center for Responsive Politics]
* Campaign receipts for members of the House of Representatives totaled $1.9 billion in 2010-up from $781 million in 1998. [Committee for Economic Development]
* Outside groups spent more on political advertising in 2010 than party committees-for the first time in at least two decades. [Center for Responsive Politics]
* A shocking 72 percent of political advertising by outside groups in 2010 came from sources that were prohibited from spending money in 2006. [Committee for Economic Development]
* In 2004, 97.9 percent of outside groups disclosed their donors. In 2010, 34.0 percent did. [Committee for Economic Development]
* In 2010, the US Chamber of Commerce spent $31,207,114 in electioneering communications. The contributions for which it disclosed the donors: $0. [Committee for Economic Development]
* Only 26,783 Americans donated more than $10,000 to federal campaigns in 2010-or, about one in 10,000 Americans. Their donations accounted for 24.3 percent of total campaign donations. [Sunlight Foundation]
* Average donation from that elite group was $28,913. (The median individual income in America is $26,364) [Sunlight Foundation]
* Amount the Karl Rove-led Crossroads GPS says it will spend on the 2012 elections: $240 million. [On the Media]
* Amount that President Obama has raised from the financial sector already for his 2012 re-election: $15.6 million [Washington Post]
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From: Cashawna Parker (parkerc@ci.albany.ny.us)
Subject: Resolution Against Corporate Personhood
Date: Jan 6, 2012 12:17 PM
The resolution that the Albany Common Council passed is below.
Cashawna Parker
Senior Legislative Aide to the
Albany Common Council
(518) 434-5087
Council Members Calsolaro, Fahey, Golby, Konev, O'Brien, Sano and Smith introduced the following, which was approved:
Resolution Number 93.121.11R (As amended prior to introduction)
RESOLUTION SUPPORTING THE MOVE TO AMEND CAMPAIGN RELATING TO CORPORATE PERSONHOOD AS DECIDED IN CITIZENS UNITED VS. FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION; CALLING ON CONGRESS TO PASS LEGISLATION LIMITING CORPORATE PERSONHOOD TO THE HISTORIC PARAMETERS AS SET FORTH IN THE 1886 SUPREME COURT DECISION IN SANTA CLARA COUNTY VS. SOUTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD; AND SUPPORTING FEDERAL LEGISLATION REQUIRING DISCLOSURE OF DONORS TO ORGANIZATIONS MAKING POLITICAL EXPENDITURES
WHEREAS, government of, by, and for the people has long been a cherished American value, and We The People's fundamental and inalienable right to self-govern, and thereby secure rights to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness is guaranteed in the US Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, and;
WHEREAS, free and fair elections are essential to democracy and effective self-
governance, and;
WHEREAS, persons are rightfully recognized as human beings whose essential needs include clean air, clean water, safe and secure food, and;
WHEREAS, corporations are entirely human-made legal fictions created by express permission of We The People and our government, and;
WHEREAS, corporations can exist in perpetuity, can exist simultaneously in many nations at once, need only profit for survival, and exist solely through the legal charter imposed by the government of We The People, and;
WHEREAS, in addition to these advantages, the great wealth of large corporations allows them to wield coercive force of law to overpower human beings and communities that can affect We The People's exercise of our Constitutional rights, and;
WHEREAS, in the 1886 Supreme Court decision in Santa Clara vs. Southern Pacific Railroad, the United States Supreme Court ruled that only certain, specified rights for "persons" can be extended to corporations, and this decision has been the basis for corporate personhood for more than one hundred years, until the Citizens United decision in 2010, and;
WHEREAS, in the dissenting opinion in the Citizens United decision, Justice Stevens wrote that, ". . . in a variety of contexts, we have held that speech can be regulated differentially on account of the speaker's identity, when identity is understood in categorical or institutional terms." The dissent concludes that ". . . the Court's opinion is thus a rejection of the common sense of the American people . . . .", and;
WHEREAS, in response to the Citizens United decision, United States Senator Charles Schumer introduced legislation to ban foreign-controlled corporations and government contractors from making political expenditures and also requiring disclosure of donors to organizations making political expenditures, and;
WHEREAS, corporations are not and have never been human beings, and therefore are rightfully subservient to human beings and governments as our legal creations, and;
WHEREAS, the recent Citizens United v. the Federal Election Commission Supreme Court decision that rolled back the legal limits on corporate spending in the electoral process creates an unequal playing field and allows unlimited corporate spending to influence elections, candidate selection, policy decisions and sway votes, and forces elected officials to divert their attention from The Peoples' business, or even vote against the interest of their human constituents, in order to ensure competitive campaign funds for their own re-election, and;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Common Council of the City of Albany states its support for the Move to Amend campaign relating to corporate personhood as decided in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and calling on Congress to pass legislation limiting corporate personhood to its historic parameters as decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in Santa Clara vs. Southern Pacific Railroad.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that copies of this resolution be transmitted to United States Senators Charles Schumer and Kirstin Gillibrand and United States Representative Paul Tonko.
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From: "Freedman-Schnapp, Michael" mfreedman-schnapp@council.nyc.gov
Subject: NYC Citizens United resolution text
Date: Jan 6, 2012 11:41 AM
The text for Res 1172 can be found at this link and I have copied the text below as well.
Michael Freedman-Schnapp
Office of Councilmember Brad Lander
Director of Policy
mfreedman-schnapp@council.nyc.gov
718-499-1090/212-788-6969
http://legistar.council.nyc.gov/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=1020081&GUID=7B877E8C-4823-4AC3-B283-406534448686&Options=ID|Text|&Search=1172
Res. No. 1172
Resolution opposing the United State Supreme Court's interpretation of the Constitution in Citizens United regarding the constitutional rights of corporations, supporting an amendment to the Constitution to provide that corporations are not entitled to the entirety of protections or "rights" of natural persons, specifically so that the expenditure of corporate money to influence the electoral process is no longer a form of constitutionally protected speech, and calling on Congress to begin the process of amending the Constitution.
By Council Members Lander, Mark-Viverito, The Speaker (Council Member Quinn), Brewer, Levin, Chin, James, Rose, Van Bramer, Garodnick, Vann, Gennaro, Barron, Comrie, Jackson, Palma, Reyna, Sanders Jr., Williams, Rodriguez, Koppell, Arroyo, Ferreras, Mendez., Crowley, Eugene and Wills
Whereas, In 2010 the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, holding that independent spending on elections by corporations and other groups could not be limited by government regulations; and
Whereas, This decision rolled back the legal restrictions on corporate spending in the electoral process, allowing for unlimited corporate spending to influence elections, candidate selection, and policy decisions; and
Whereas, In reaching its decision, a majority of the Supreme Court, relying on prior decisions, interpreted the First Amendment of the Constitution to afford corporations the same free speech protections as natural persons; and
Whereas, In his eloquent dissent, Justice John Paul Stevens rightly recognized that "corporations have no consciences, no beliefs, no feelings, no thoughts, no desires. Corporations help structure and facilitate the activities of human beings, to be sure, and their 'personhood' often serves as a useful legal fiction. But they are not themselves members of 'We the People' by whom and for whom our Constitution was established"; and
Whereas, The Court's decision in Citizens United severely hampers the ability of federal, state and local governments to enact reasonable campaign finance reforms and regulations regarding corporate political activity; and
Whereas, Corporations should not be afforded the entirety of protections or "rights" of natural persons, such that the expenditure of corporate money to influence the electoral process is a form of constitutionally protected speech; and
Whereas, several proposed amendments to the Constitution have been introduced in Congress that would allow governments to regulate the raising and spending of money by corporations to influence elections; now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York opposes the Supreme Court's interpretation of the Constitution in Citizens United regarding the constitutional rights of corporations, and supports amending the Constitution to provide that corporations are not entitled to the entirety of protections or "rights" of natural persons, specifically so that the expenditure of corporate money to influence the electoral process is no longer a form of constitutionally protected speech, and calls on Congress to begin the process of amending the Constitution.
SAG
LS# 3125
12/12/11
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From http://www.HuffingtonPost.com (also see http://www.NYCProgressives.com )...
New York City Council Passes Resolution Opposing Corporate Personhood
First Posted: 1/5/12 12:29 PM ET Updated: 1/5/12 01:54 PM ET
The New York City Council symbolically passed a resolution Wednesday opposing "corporate personhood." Resolution 1172 formally expressed disapproval of the landmark US Supreme Court decision in Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission, which declared that corporations have the same first amendment rights as people.
The bill, which urges Congress to take action against corporate personhood, was sponsored by councilmembers Brad Lander, Melissa Mark-Viverito and Steve Levin, all members of the Progressive Caucus. After the vote, the Caucus released a statement, which read in part:
"As our support of this resolution demonstrates, restoring confidence in government and strengthening democratic participation is a core principle of the Progressive Caucus. We believe that corporations should not share the same rights as people, that unlimited and unreported corporate donations meant to sway the electoral process should not be considered freedom of speech, and that the government should regulate the raising and spending of money by corporations intended to influence elections. We cannot allow corporate money to manipulate our democracy."
Occupy Wall Street's New York General Assembly voted to support the resolution. Corporate personhood has been a target of Occupy since the movement began in September.
The non-binding resolution passed along party lines with 41 yes-votes from Democrats, five no-votes from all five Council Republicans and one abstention from Democrat Peter Vallone.
Speaking at the hearing, Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Queens) spoke against the resolution, but was nearly drowned out by the boos and hisses of Occupy Wall Street protesters in attendance, The Gotham Gazette reports. "Corporations are people," he said. "All their money goes back to the people."
The New York City Council joins a growing list of local governments across the US who have passed similar resolutions, including Los Angeles, Albany, Boulder and Oakland.
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From http://www.CivSourceOnline.com ...
Cities, states pass resolutions against corporate personhood
January 4, 2012 @ Bailey McCann
Several cities and states are passing resolutions against corporate personhood. The resolutions are the result of Supreme Court decision, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission which gave corporations the same first amendment rights as individuals and thereby opening the floodgates for money in politics in the US. Cities and states with rules governing political contributions on the books and even some without are hoping that these resolutions will curb the impact of that decision or provide momentum to overturn it completely.
Los Angeles, Oakland, Albany and Boulder have all passed city council resolutions invalidating the concept of corporate personhood. New York City voted this afternoon to join them, with a resolution creating clear dividing lines between the rights of corporations and citizens in Manhattan. The New York decision is notable for both the size of Manhattan but also the size of its business community and the potential impact of such a resolution. Cities across the country are looking at similar resolutions in attempt to restore order in their localities as Super Political Action Committees (PACs) make unprecedented forays into local elections.
On Friday, Montana's Supreme Court restored a 100-year old provision banning corporate spending in local politics. According to the court, even though the Supreme Court ruling strikes federal spending limits, it does not specifically prohibit state spending laws. The court held that the state's Corrupt Practices Act, thus complies with the U.S. Supreme Court's January 2010 ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission.
Vermont introduced a measure in the state legislature last week that calls on Congress to create a constitutional amendment separating the rights of individuals from those of corporations. California is expected to be the next state to take up a state-level resolution calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens United decision.
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From http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/03/06-2 ...
Published on Tuesday, March 6, 2012 by Washington Post
Super Tuesday's Big Winner Is Already Settled
by Katrina vanden Heuvel
The polls haven't closed, but here's one thing we already know: The big winners of Super Tuesday are the super PACs and big-money politics. In the run-up to Tuesday's vote, the super PACs' farcically described "independent expenditures" were far greater than the spending of the candidates' campaigns.
A Las Vegas billionaire single-handedly has kept Newt Gingrich in the race. Mitt Romney's "vulture capitalist" biography may raise doubts in some voters' minds, but it has helped him sweep the money primary. And while Romney has found it hard to win significant support from Republican voters, his "independent" super PAC - Restore Our Future - has used that dough to carpet-bomb with negative ads any opponent who has risen to challenge him.
The supposed "independence" of the super PACs reaches barely a legal fiction. Former aides or fundraisers run the entities. The campaigns alert donors as to which "independent" entity is designated for support. President Obama is delegating Cabinet and White House officials to attend fundraisers for Priorities USA Action, his "independent" super PAC. His 2008 campaign director, David Plouffe, now coordinating messaging in the White House, is out helping to raise the money.
Ahead of Super Tuesday, the Romney campaign spent little money outside of Ohio. Not surprisingly, his "independent" super PAC ramped up its spending in the other states to spearhead the Romney attack. The Gingrich campaign took this to the point of absurdity, running no advertising in the Super Tuesday primaries while his super PAC, Winning Our Future - funded almost entirely by one donor - carried the banner, spending $3.7 million in the primary states.
The alleged independence of the super PACs lets them do the dirty work without the candidate taking responsibility. The result is an increasingly ugly campaign, deluged with negative attack ads. In Ohio, a key battleground state, the groups associated with Romney, Gingrich and Santorum spent about $4 million in advertising. Of the 11 presidential election commercials run on Ohio TV since February 1, all but one were negative attack ads, according to the Kantar Media's Campaign Media Analysis Group.
What we've seen, however, is merely the first glass before the bender, the blowout that will come this fall. The fall election will feature an estimated $3 billion in negative ads, many purveyed not by super PACs, which at least have to reveal their donors, but by associated "advocacy groups" that are not required to do so. That is where the corporations and the Wall Street barons are likely to play. The candidates will know who anted up the big money, but the voters will not.
The infamous Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. FEC, ruling that corporations as well as individuals could give unlimited amounts to "independent" expenditure entities, opened the floodgates. Writing for the majority, Justice Anthony Kennedy ruled that corporations had the same rights as people to speech, and thus to unlimited expenditures in campaigns. That right might be balanced, he admitted, by the public concern about corruption of elections and officials. Then he bizarrely concluded - without bothering to offer any evidence - that independent corporate expenditures in elections, even in secret, "do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption."
The Citizens United decision was to our democracy what congressional repeal of the Glass-Steagall regulation of banking was to our economy. In both cases, money had already eroded the regulatory system. But the formal repeal of regulation removed any sense of constraint.
Now, Montana's Supreme Court has offered the Supreme Court a chance to reconsider its folly. In defiance of Citizens United, the court upheld a 100-year-old state law that bans corporate money in campaigns, arguing that, given Montana's early history of corporate money corrupting elected officials, the state ban served a compelling interest. As Attorney General Steve Bullock noted, "Our legislature, our judges, down to the local county assessors, were almost bought and paid for. Mark Twain even said that, you know, the amount of money coming in in Montana makes the smell of corruption almost sweet."
The Supreme Court immediately issued a stay of the court ruling, pending a formal appeal. But in a separate note, Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer suggested the Montana case offered the Supreme Court's five-person majority a change to reconsider a bad decision.
"Montana's experience and experience elsewhere," they wrote, "make it exceedingly difficult to maintain that independent expenditures by corporations 'do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption.' " (Note the echo of Kennedy's words in Citizens United.) The appeal "will give the court an opportunity to consider whether, in light of the huge sums currently deployed to buy candidates' allegiance, Citizens United should continue to hold sway."
Across the country, a fierce reaction to the corruption of our politics has begun to build. Some 20 senators have joined in co-sponsoring a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United. The New Mexico legislature just passed a resolution calling on Congress to move to amend. Similar resolutions have been introduced in Massachusetts, Wisconsin and Maine. Major cities - New York, Portland, and Los Angeles - have also acted.
Since a constitutional amendment would take years to pass, Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) has introduced a bill requiring that super PACs and shadow groups disclose donors and spending every 24 hours on the Web. The groups' TV ads would have to list the top five donors. Corporations and unions would have to detail their political spending to stockholders and members. This modest effort to bring transparency to an opaque process faces entrenched Republican opposition.
We don't know who will win the elections this fall. But we know that the flood of independent and secret money will be unprecedented, funding salvos of negative ads that will foul the airwaves and disgust voters. And as voters increasingly view our politics as a corrupted playground for deep pocket donors, the Supreme Court majority might want to reconsider its unpopular decision.
© 2012 Washington Post
Katrina vanden Heuvel is editor of The Nation.
Elizabeth Warren's right-- Gibson should also sign People's Pledge vs. SuperPACs!...
[let us know if you can join us today (Mon.) 4:30 pm in front of Chris Gibson's Red Hook district office at 7578 North Broadway (Rt. 9)-- a bit north of main light in center of village there!...Joel (845-444-0599)]
Recall-- Chris Gibson is no stranger to SuperPACs-- recall how just two years ago he was amply assisted with ads from Karl Rove's SuperPAC-- American Crossroads:
"NY-20: Karl Rove's Crossroads Project Targets Murphy" by Brian Mann [10/26/10]
http://blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org/inbox/2010/10/26/ny-20-karl-roves-crossroads-project-targets-murphy/
"Karl Rove PAC Airing Ad in the 20th CD" by Leigh Hornbeck [10/15/10]
http://blog.timesunion.com/capitol/archives/33083/karl-rove-pac-airing-ad-in-the-20th-cd/
[go this article to see update on how Rove's American Crossroads SuperPAC is doing:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/lauriebennett/2012/02/02/billionaires-flock-to-karl-rove-super-pac/]
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[see http://www.JoelforCongress.org ; join 229 already signed to http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel ; Town of Union Vale and Town of Clinton Democratic Committees have now endorsed my campaign for Congress-- along with Dutchess and Columbia County Democratic Elections Commissioners Fran Knapp and Virginia Martin, Pete Seeger, Cornel West, Josh Fox, and Troy Area Labor Council President Mike Keenan-- let us know if we can come make presentation at your town's Dem committee!]
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[press conference today is my formally/personally following up w/hard copy of this letter I just emailed]
From: Joel Tyner
To: press@chrisgibsonforcongress.com, Gibson@mail.house.gov, Chris.Gibson@mail.house.gov, Rep. Chris.Gibson@mail.house.gov
Subject: Rep. Gibson (Chris)-- need People's Pledge to limit SuperPACs in NY-20 as in Mass.!...
The Honorable Chris Gibson
United States House of Representatives
502 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3220
Rep. Gibson (Chris):
No doubt you are familiar with the bipartisan agreement to limit the influence of SuperPAC spending that Elizabeth Warren and Scott Brown recently signed this January; recall these five articles on this:
1. AP: "Elizabeth Warren, Scott Brown Sign Pledge: Curb Attacks From Outside Groups" Steve LeBlanc
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/23/elizabeth-warren-scott-brown-attack-ads_n_1223574.html
2. "Elizabeth Warren and Scott Brown Agree to Third-Party Ad Ban" by Tim Murphy [Jan. 23rd]
http://motherjones.com/mojo/2012/01/elizabeth-warren-and-scott-brown-pledge-ban-super-pac-funding
3. "Scott Brown, Elizabeth Warren Sign Pledge-- Ban Third-Party Involvement in Race"-- Glen Johnson
http://www.boston.com/Boston/politicalintelligence/2012/01/scott-brown-elizabeth-warren-battle-for-campaign-public-relations-high-ground/uzas6dzj6PiBxNJDGyKQaP/index.html [Boston Globe Jan. 23rd]
4. "Elizabeth Warren & Scott Brown Reach Agreement on Limiting Outside Ads"-- Chris Bowers [1/23]
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/01/23/1057596/-Elizabeth-Warren-and-Scott-Brown-reach-agreement-on-limiting-outside-ads
5. "Elizabeth Warren, Scott Brown Settle on Super PAC Pledge" by Manu Raju [Jan. 23rd]
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/71813.html
Hopefully you would agree that the corrosive and destructive influence of obscenely large, unaccountable SuperPACs should not only be limited in Massachusetts-- but also here and across U.S.:
I ask you to join me in agreeing to the People's Pledge below to limit SuperPAC influence in NY-20!
Please let me know your thoughts on this-- folks here in the 20th c.d. deserve a People's Pledge now.
[beyond this-- other needed solutions: http://www.MovetoAmend.org ; http://www.FairElectionsNow.org ]
Finally, check out "Eleven Shocking Facts About Campaign Finance" by George Zornick (Jan. 20th):
http://www.thenation.com/blog/165778/eleven-shocking-facts-about-campaign-finance : a wake-up call.
Let's work together to clean up elections and send a strong message to D.C.: business as usual is over!
Joel Tyner
Dutchess County Legislator (Clinton/Rhinebeck)
Democratic Candidate for Congress, 20th c.d.
324 Browns Pond Road
Staatsburg, NY 12580
845-444-0599
[also see: http://images.dailykos.com/i/user/123/Letter_to_station_managers.pdf ;
http://images.dailykos.com/i/user/123/Letter_to_third_parties.pdf ]
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A People's Pledge for New York's 20th Congressional District
[text here nearly identical to Warren/Brown http://images.dailykos.com/i/user/123/Peoples__Pledge.pdf ]
Because inevitably outside third-party organizations-- including but not limited to individuals, corporations, 527 organizations, 501(c) organizations, SuperPACs, and national and state party committees-- will air independent expenditure advertisements and issue advertisements either supporting Representative Chris Gibson or the Democratic candidate for Congress in New York's 20th Congressional District (individually "the Candidate" and collectively the "Candidates");
Because these groups function as independent expenditure organizations that are outside the direct control of either of the Candidates; and
Because the Candidates agree that they do not approve of such independent expenditure advertisements, and do not want those advertisements for the duration of the 2012 election cycle; and
Because the Candidates recognize that in order to make New York's 20th Congressional District a national example, and provide local citizens with an election free of third-party independent expenditure advertisements, they must be willing to include an enforcement mechanism that runs not to the third-party organizations but instead to the Candidates' own campaigns:
The Candidates on behalf of their respective campaigns hereby agree to the following:
-- In the event that a third-party organization airs any independent expenditure broadcast (including radio), cable, satellite, or online advertising in support of a named, referenced (including by title) or otherwise identified Candidate, that Candidate's campaign shall, within three (3) days of discovery of the advertisement buy's total cost, duration, and source, pay 50% of the cost of that advertising buy to a charity of the opposing Candidate's choice.
-- In the event that a third-party organization airs any independent expenditure broadcast (including radio), cable, or satellite advertising, or online advertising in opposition to a named, referenced (including by title) or otherwise identified Candidate, the opposing Candidate's campaign shall, within three (3) days of discovery of the advertisement buy's total cost, duration, and source, pay 50% of the cost of that advertising buy to a charity of the opposed Candidate's choice.
-- In the event that a third-party organization airs any broadcast (including radio), cable, or satellite advertising that promotes or supports a named, referenced (including by title) or otherwise identified Candidate, that Candidate's campaign shall, within three (3) days of discovery of the advertisement buy's total cost, duration, and source, pay 50% of the cost of that advertising buy to a charity of the opposing Candidate's choice.
-- In the event that a third-party organization airs any broadcast (including radio), cable, or satellite advertising that attacks or opposes a named, referenced (including by title) or otherwise identified Candidate, the opposing Candidate's campaign shall, within three (3) days of discovery of the advertisement buy's total cost, duration and source, pay 50% of the cost of the ad buy to a charity of the opposing Candidate's choice.
-- The Candidates and their campaigns agree that neither they nor anyone acting on their behalf shall coordinate with any third party on any paid advertising for the duration of the 2012 election cycle. In the event that either Candidate or their campaign or anyone acting on their behalf coordinates any paid advertisement with a third-party organization, that Candidate's campaign shall pay 50% of the cost of the ad buy to a charity of the opposing Candidate's choice.
-- The Candidates and their campaigns agree to continue to work together to limit the influence of third-party advertisements and to close any loopholes (including coverage of sham ads) that arise in this agreement during the course of this campaign.
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From http://www.thenation.com/blog/165778/eleven-shocking-facts-about-campaign-finance ...
Eleven Shocking Facts About Campaign Finance
George Zornick on January 20, 2012 - 1:57 PM ET
It's been two years since the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission, allowing a torrent of secret money to flow into the political process.
To be clear, the corrupting influence of big money was distorting the democratic process for years before that decision. But it unquestionably made the problem worse, exacerbating both the volume and secrecy of campaign donations.
Here's eleven disturbing facts about the extent to which money is playing an increasing role in our politics:
* The amount of independent expenditure and electioneering communication spending by outside groups has quadrupled since 2006. [Center for Responsive Politics]
* The percentage of spending coming from groups that do not disclose their donors has risen from 1 percent to 47 percent since the 2006 mid-term elections. [Center for Responsive Politics]
* Campaign receipts for members of the House of Representatives totaled $1.9 billion in 2010-up from $781 million in 1998. [Committee for Economic Development]
* Outside groups spent more on political advertising in 2010 than party committees-for the first time in at least two decades. [Center for Responsive Politics]
* A shocking 72 percent of political advertising by outside groups in 2010 came from sources that were prohibited from spending money in 2006. [Committee for Economic Development]
* In 2004, 97.9 percent of outside groups disclosed their donors. In 2010, 34.0 percent did. [Committee for Economic Development]
* In 2010, the US Chamber of Commerce spent $31,207,114 in electioneering communications. The contributions for which it disclosed the donors: $0. [Committee for Economic Development]
* Only 26,783 Americans donated more than $10,000 to federal campaigns in 2010-or, about one in 10,000 Americans. Their donations accounted for 24.3 percent of total campaign donations. [Sunlight Foundation]
* Average donation from that elite group was $28,913. (The median individual income in America is $26,364) [Sunlight Foundation]
* Amount the Karl Rove-led Crossroads GPS says it will spend on the 2012 elections: $240 million. [On the Media]
* Amount that President Obama has raised from the financial sector already for his 2012 re-election: $15.6 million [Washington Post]
Recall-- Chris Gibson is no stranger to SuperPACs-- recall how just two years ago he was amply assisted with ads from Karl Rove's SuperPAC-- American Crossroads:
"NY-20: Karl Rove's Crossroads Project Targets Murphy" by Brian Mann [10/26/10]
http://blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org/inbox/2010/10/26/ny-20-karl-roves-crossroads-project-targets-murphy/
"Karl Rove PAC Airing Ad in the 20th CD" by Leigh Hornbeck [10/15/10]
http://blog.timesunion.com/capitol/archives/33083/karl-rove-pac-airing-ad-in-the-20th-cd/
[go this article to see update on how Rove's American Crossroads SuperPAC is doing:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/lauriebennett/2012/02/02/billionaires-flock-to-karl-rove-super-pac/]
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[see http://www.JoelforCongress.org ; join 229 already signed to http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel ; Town of Union Vale and Town of Clinton Democratic Committees have now endorsed my campaign for Congress-- along with Dutchess and Columbia County Democratic Elections Commissioners Fran Knapp and Virginia Martin, Pete Seeger, Cornel West, Josh Fox, and Troy Area Labor Council President Mike Keenan-- let us know if we can come make presentation at your town's Dem committee!]
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[press conference today is my formally/personally following up w/hard copy of this letter I just emailed]
From: Joel Tyner
To: press@chrisgibsonforcongress.com, Gibson@mail.house.gov, Chris.Gibson@mail.house.gov, Rep. Chris.Gibson@mail.house.gov
Subject: Rep. Gibson (Chris)-- need People's Pledge to limit SuperPACs in NY-20 as in Mass.!...
The Honorable Chris Gibson
United States House of Representatives
502 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3220
Rep. Gibson (Chris):
No doubt you are familiar with the bipartisan agreement to limit the influence of SuperPAC spending that Elizabeth Warren and Scott Brown recently signed this January; recall these five articles on this:
1. AP: "Elizabeth Warren, Scott Brown Sign Pledge: Curb Attacks From Outside Groups" Steve LeBlanc
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/23/elizabeth-warren-scott-brown-attack-ads_n_1223574.html
2. "Elizabeth Warren and Scott Brown Agree to Third-Party Ad Ban" by Tim Murphy [Jan. 23rd]
http://motherjones.com/mojo/2012/01/elizabeth-warren-and-scott-brown-pledge-ban-super-pac-funding
3. "Scott Brown, Elizabeth Warren Sign Pledge-- Ban Third-Party Involvement in Race"-- Glen Johnson
http://www.boston.com/Boston/politicalintelligence/2012/01/scott-brown-elizabeth-warren-battle-for-campaign-public-relations-high-ground/uzas6dzj6PiBxNJDGyKQaP/index.html [Boston Globe Jan. 23rd]
4. "Elizabeth Warren & Scott Brown Reach Agreement on Limiting Outside Ads"-- Chris Bowers [1/23]
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/01/23/1057596/-Elizabeth-Warren-and-Scott-Brown-reach-agreement-on-limiting-outside-ads
5. "Elizabeth Warren, Scott Brown Settle on Super PAC Pledge" by Manu Raju [Jan. 23rd]
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/71813.html
Hopefully you would agree that the corrosive and destructive influence of obscenely large, unaccountable SuperPACs should not only be limited in Massachusetts-- but also here and across U.S.:
I ask you to join me in agreeing to the People's Pledge below to limit SuperPAC influence in NY-20!
Please let me know your thoughts on this-- folks here in the 20th c.d. deserve a People's Pledge now.
[beyond this-- other needed solutions: http://www.MovetoAmend.org ; http://www.FairElectionsNow.org ]
Finally, check out "Eleven Shocking Facts About Campaign Finance" by George Zornick (Jan. 20th):
http://www.thenation.com/blog/165778/eleven-shocking-facts-about-campaign-finance : a wake-up call.
Let's work together to clean up elections and send a strong message to D.C.: business as usual is over!
Joel Tyner
Dutchess County Legislator (Clinton/Rhinebeck)
Democratic Candidate for Congress, 20th c.d.
324 Browns Pond Road
Staatsburg, NY 12580
845-444-0599
[also see: http://images.dailykos.com/i/user/123/Letter_to_station_managers.pdf ;
http://images.dailykos.com/i/user/123/Letter_to_third_parties.pdf ]
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A People's Pledge for New York's 20th Congressional District
[text here nearly identical to Warren/Brown http://images.dailykos.com/i/user/123/Peoples__Pledge.pdf ]
Because inevitably outside third-party organizations-- including but not limited to individuals, corporations, 527 organizations, 501(c) organizations, SuperPACs, and national and state party committees-- will air independent expenditure advertisements and issue advertisements either supporting Representative Chris Gibson or the Democratic candidate for Congress in New York's 20th Congressional District (individually "the Candidate" and collectively the "Candidates");
Because these groups function as independent expenditure organizations that are outside the direct control of either of the Candidates; and
Because the Candidates agree that they do not approve of such independent expenditure advertisements, and do not want those advertisements for the duration of the 2012 election cycle; and
Because the Candidates recognize that in order to make New York's 20th Congressional District a national example, and provide local citizens with an election free of third-party independent expenditure advertisements, they must be willing to include an enforcement mechanism that runs not to the third-party organizations but instead to the Candidates' own campaigns:
The Candidates on behalf of their respective campaigns hereby agree to the following:
-- In the event that a third-party organization airs any independent expenditure broadcast (including radio), cable, satellite, or online advertising in support of a named, referenced (including by title) or otherwise identified Candidate, that Candidate's campaign shall, within three (3) days of discovery of the advertisement buy's total cost, duration, and source, pay 50% of the cost of that advertising buy to a charity of the opposing Candidate's choice.
-- In the event that a third-party organization airs any independent expenditure broadcast (including radio), cable, or satellite advertising, or online advertising in opposition to a named, referenced (including by title) or otherwise identified Candidate, the opposing Candidate's campaign shall, within three (3) days of discovery of the advertisement buy's total cost, duration, and source, pay 50% of the cost of that advertising buy to a charity of the opposed Candidate's choice.
-- In the event that a third-party organization airs any broadcast (including radio), cable, or satellite advertising that promotes or supports a named, referenced (including by title) or otherwise identified Candidate, that Candidate's campaign shall, within three (3) days of discovery of the advertisement buy's total cost, duration, and source, pay 50% of the cost of that advertising buy to a charity of the opposing Candidate's choice.
-- In the event that a third-party organization airs any broadcast (including radio), cable, or satellite advertising that attacks or opposes a named, referenced (including by title) or otherwise identified Candidate, the opposing Candidate's campaign shall, within three (3) days of discovery of the advertisement buy's total cost, duration and source, pay 50% of the cost of the ad buy to a charity of the opposing Candidate's choice.
-- The Candidates and their campaigns agree that neither they nor anyone acting on their behalf shall coordinate with any third party on any paid advertising for the duration of the 2012 election cycle. In the event that either Candidate or their campaign or anyone acting on their behalf coordinates any paid advertisement with a third-party organization, that Candidate's campaign shall pay 50% of the cost of the ad buy to a charity of the opposing Candidate's choice.
-- The Candidates and their campaigns agree to continue to work together to limit the influence of third-party advertisements and to close any loopholes (including coverage of sham ads) that arise in this agreement during the course of this campaign.
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From http://www.thenation.com/blog/165778/eleven-shocking-facts-about-campaign-finance ...
Eleven Shocking Facts About Campaign Finance
George Zornick on January 20, 2012 - 1:57 PM ET
It's been two years since the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission, allowing a torrent of secret money to flow into the political process.
To be clear, the corrupting influence of big money was distorting the democratic process for years before that decision. But it unquestionably made the problem worse, exacerbating both the volume and secrecy of campaign donations.
Here's eleven disturbing facts about the extent to which money is playing an increasing role in our politics:
* The amount of independent expenditure and electioneering communication spending by outside groups has quadrupled since 2006. [Center for Responsive Politics]
* The percentage of spending coming from groups that do not disclose their donors has risen from 1 percent to 47 percent since the 2006 mid-term elections. [Center for Responsive Politics]
* Campaign receipts for members of the House of Representatives totaled $1.9 billion in 2010-up from $781 million in 1998. [Committee for Economic Development]
* Outside groups spent more on political advertising in 2010 than party committees-for the first time in at least two decades. [Center for Responsive Politics]
* A shocking 72 percent of political advertising by outside groups in 2010 came from sources that were prohibited from spending money in 2006. [Committee for Economic Development]
* In 2004, 97.9 percent of outside groups disclosed their donors. In 2010, 34.0 percent did. [Committee for Economic Development]
* In 2010, the US Chamber of Commerce spent $31,207,114 in electioneering communications. The contributions for which it disclosed the donors: $0. [Committee for Economic Development]
* Only 26,783 Americans donated more than $10,000 to federal campaigns in 2010-or, about one in 10,000 Americans. Their donations accounted for 24.3 percent of total campaign donations. [Sunlight Foundation]
* Average donation from that elite group was $28,913. (The median individual income in America is $26,364) [Sunlight Foundation]
* Amount the Karl Rove-led Crossroads GPS says it will spend on the 2012 elections: $240 million. [On the Media]
* Amount that President Obama has raised from the financial sector already for his 2012 re-election: $15.6 million [Washington Post]
rally to stop war with Iran-- Friday 4:30 pm @ Nan Hayworth's Fishkill office!...
Hi all...
Please let us know as soon as possible if you can join our Real Majority Project (hopefully with folks from DutchessPeace.org coalition) this Friday Mar. 2nd at 4:30 pm-- for our Rally To Stop War with Iran in front of Rep. Nan Hayworth's Fishkill office just off Rt. 52 (2 Summit Court, Suite 103)!...
[no. Dutchess folks: let us know if you can join us for similar rally soon at Gibson's Red Hook Rt. 9 office; see: http://www.dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2012/02/iran-update-new-pipa-poll-even-65-of.html ]
Need more reason to come out Fri.?...Check out these seven brand-new ones just off the net-- read/fwd:
[let your fingers do the walkin'!...White House-- (202) 456-1111; Capitol Switchboard-- (202) 224-3121]
1. NYTimes yesterday: "US Agencies See No Move by Iran to Build Bomb" (James Risen/Mark Mazzetti)
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/25/world/middleeast/us-agencies-see-no-move-by-iran-to-build-a-bomb.html ]
2. "Need to Talk Sense to Netanyahu" by Leah Bolger, President of http://www.VeteransforPeace.org
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/02/23-6 [THIS ONE'S MUST READ FOLKS(!) from Thurs.]
3. "U.S. Spies See No Evidence of Iranian Nuclear Weapons Program" [Common Dreams yesterday]
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/02/25
4. "Despite War Drums, Experts Insist Iran Nuclear Deal Possible" by Jim Lobe [Friday]
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/02/24
5. "The Slide Toward War" by Conn Hallinan [Thursday]
http://www.fpif.org/articles/the_slide_toward_war
6. "Drumbeat of War with Iran Has a Familiar Ring" by Simon Tisdall
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/02/24-9 [Friday's Guardian/UK]
7. "Squeezing Iran on Nuclear Developments" by Arun Elhance [yesterday]
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/02/25-1
And-- recall op-ed piece from the New York Times Jan. 15th [many in media/gov. ignore these polls]:
["Preventing a Nuclear Iran, Peacefully" by Shibley Telhami and Steven Kull]
From http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/16/opinion/preventing-a-nuclear-iran-peacefully.html ...
"When asked whether it would be better for both Israel and Iran to have the bomb, or for neither to have it, 65 percent of Israeli Jews said neither. And a remarkable 64 percent favored the idea of a nuclear-free zone, even when it was explained that this would mean Israel giving up its nuclear weapons. Despite all the talk of an "existential threat," less than half of Israelis support a strike on Iran. According to our November poll, carried out in cooperation with the Dahaf Institute in Israel, only 43 percent of Israeli Jews support a military strike on Iran - even though 90 percent of them think that Iran will eventually acquire nuclear weapons. The Israeli public also seems willing to move away from a secretive nuclear policy toward greater openness about Israel's nuclear facilities. Sixty percent of respondents favored "a system of full international inspections" of all nuclear facilities, including Israel's and Iran's, as a step toward regional disarmament. And a 2007 poll by the Program on International Policy Attitudes found that the Iranian people would favor such a deal."
[more re: poll see: http://www.worldpublicopinion.org/pipa/pdf/dec11/IsraeliMENFZ_Dec11_quaire.pdf ]
[see FAIR Action Alert: "NYTimes Lets Unnamed Officials Smear Critics as 'Terrorists'":
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2012/02/24 ]
Recall as well these other nine must-read's re: Iran of uncommon common sense/sanity in Middle East:
1. "Iran: Willing to Deal" by Richard Javad Heydarian [posted up online yesterday]
http://www.fpif.org/articles/iran_willing_to_deal
2. "Iran: Outgunned in the Gulf" by Rex Wingerter [from last Thursday]
http://www.fpif.org/articles/iran_outgunned_in_the_gulf
3. "Iran Uses Terror to Target Civilians, and So Does Israel" by Gideon Levy [Haaretz (Israel) Sunday]
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/02/20-3
4. "Another March to War?" by Matt Taibbi [2/18/12 Rolling Stone]
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/02/18-1
5. "Iran Tensions Rise with Diplomat Bombings, Scientist Killings, Nuke Claims, Media Warmongering"
[Glenn Greenwald of Salon & Reza Marashi of National Iranian American Council last Thurs.-- D- Now]
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/2/16/iran_tensions_rise_with_diplomat_bombings
6. "We've Seen the Threats Against Iran Before" by Phyllis Bennis [posted online Friday]
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/02/17-0
7. "Iran Nuclear Coverage Echoes Iraq War Media Frenzy" [posted to CommonDreams Friday]
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/02/17-2
8. "Cables Hold Clues to U.S.-Iran Mysteries" by Robert Parry [12/31/11]
http://consortiumnews.com/2011/12/31/cables-hold-clues-to-u-s-iran-mysteries
9. My last blog post Feb. 2nd on all this (re: stopping sabre-rattling towards war w/Iran)
http://www.dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2012/02/stop-sabre-rattling-re-war-with-iran-de.html
[pass it on]
Joel
845-444-0599/876-2488
joeltyner@earthlink.net
http://www.JoelforCongress.org
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel
[help us speak truth to power; send $ to Joel for Congress 324 Browns Pond Rd. Staatsburg, NY 12580]
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From http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/02/23-6 ...
Published on Thursday, February 23, 2012 by ConsortiumNews.com
Need to Talk Sense to Netanyahu
by Leah Bolger
Recalling President George Washington's farewell advice against tying the United States too closely to any foreign nation, Veterans for Peace urges President Obama to publicly warn Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu against attacking Iran with the expectation of U.S. military support.
MEMORANDUM FOR: The President
FROM: Veterans for Peace
SUBJECT: You Need to Talk Sense to Netanyahu
We members of Veterans for Peace have served in every war since WW II. We know war. And we know when it smells like war. It smells that way now, with drums beating loudly for attacking Iran.
Information offered by the media to "prove" Iran a threat bears an eerie resemblance to the "evidence" ginned up to "justify" war on Iraq - evidence later described by the Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, after a five-year committee investigation, as "unsubstantiated, contradicted, or even non-existent."
The good news this time around is that sane policy toward Israel and Iran can find support in a principled U.S. intelligence community, which has rebuffed attempts to force it to serve up doctored "evidence" to justify war. U.S. intelligence continues to adhere to the unanimous, "high-confidence" judgment, set forth in the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) of November 2007 that Iran stopped working on a nuclear weapon in 2003.
(It may be of more than incidental interest to you that both President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have openly admitted that the 2007 NIE put the kibosh on U.S.-Israeli plans to strike Iran in 2008.)
We hope you have been adequately briefed on the findings of the November 2011 report on Iran by the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Those findings are consistent with the key judgments of the U.S. intelligence community expressed four years earlier. The IAEA report contained no evidence that Iran has yet decided to build nuclear weapons, despite widespread media hype to the contrary.
Needed: Presidential Action
We believe that you have the power to nip the current warmongering in the bud by taking essentially two key steps:
1-Announce publicly that you will not allow the United States to be drawn into war if Israel attacks Iran or provokes hostilities in some other way.
In threatening and planning such attacks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his supporters are assuming you would have no option other than to commit U.S. forces in support of Israel. To assume automatic support from the world's sole remaining superpower is a heady thing and an invitation to adventurism.
We are aware that you have dispatched emissary after emissary to ask the Israelis please not to start a war. We mean no offense to those messengers, but there is very little reason to believe that they are taken seriously.
We are convinced that only a strong public demurral from you personally would have much chance of disabusing Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders of the notion that they can expect full American support, no matter how hostilities with Iran begin.
The Risks of Silence
A public statement now could pre-empt a catastrophic war. Conversely, the Israeli leaders are likely to interpret unwillingness on your part to speak out clearly as a sign that you will find it politically impossible to deny Israel military support once it is engaged in hostilities with Iran.
What we find surprising (and the Israelis presumably find reassuring) is the nonchalance with which Official Washington and the media discuss the possible outbreak of war. From officials and pundits alike, the notion has gained currency that an attack on Iran is an acceptable option, and that the only remaining questions are if and when the Israelis will choose to attack.
Little heed is paid to the fact that, absent an immediate threat to Israel, such an attack would be a war of aggression as defined and condemned at the Nuremberg Tribunal.
Joint Chiefs Chairman Martin Dempsey's anemic remark on Sunday that an Israeli attack on Iran would be "not prudent" is precisely the kind of understatement to give Netanyahu the impression that he essentially has carte blanche to start hostilities with Iran, anticipating a mere tap on the knuckles - if that - from Washington.
2-Announce to the people of the United States and the world that Iran presents no immediate threat to Israel, much less the U.S.
That Iran is no threat to America is clear. Your secretary of state has acknowledged this publicly. For example, speaking in Qatar on Feb. 14, 2010, Secretary Clinton said that, were Iran to pursue a nuclear weapon, this would "not directly threaten the United States," but would pose a threat to our "partners here in this region."
Secretary Clinton has made it clear that the partner she has uppermost in mind is Israel. She and the Israeli leaders have used the media to hype this "threat," even though it is widely recognized that it would be suicidal for Iran to use such a weapon against Israel - armed as it is with hundreds of nuclear weapons.
The media have drummed into us that a nuclear weapon in Iran's hands would pose an "existential" threat to Israel, a claim that is difficult to challenge - that is, until one gives it careful thought. Now is the time to challenge it. Indeed, the whole notion is such a stretch that even some very senior Israeli officials have begun to challenge it in public, as we shall point out later in this memorandum.
Chirac Spoof on the "Threat"
Former French President Jacques Chirac is perhaps the best-known Western statesman to ridicule the notion that Israel, with at least 200 to 300 nuclear weapons in its arsenal, would consider Iran's possession of a nuclear bomb or two an existential threat.
In a recorded interview with the New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, and Le Nouvel Observateur, on Jan. 29, 2007, Chirac put it this way: "Where will it drop it, this bomb? On Israel? It would not have gone 200 meters into the atmosphere before Tehran would be razed." Chirac concluded that Iran's possession of a nuclear bomb would not be "very dangerous."
Oddly, Chirac's logic has found more receptivity among some of Netanyahu's top officials than with your own strongly pro-Israel advisers, which now include CIA chief David Petraeus. You may be unaware that Petraeus repeatedly raised the "existential-threat-to-Israel" shibboleth in his recent testimony to Congress.
Petraeus: An "Existentialist"?
At the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Jan. 31, Petraeus said he had talked just days before with his Israeli counterpart, Mossad chief Tamir Pardo, who was visiting Washington. Is it conceivable that Petraeus's staff had not briefed him on Pardo's dismissive remarks on the supposed "existential threat" just weeks before?
According to Israeli press reports, on Dec. 27, 2011, Pardo complained to an audience of about 100 Israeli ambassadors: "The term 'existential threat' is used too freely If one said a nuclear bomb in Iranian hands was an 'existential threat,' that would mean we would have to close up shop and go home. That's not the situation."
One of the ambassadors in the audience told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz that Pardo's remarks "clearly implied that he doesn't think a nuclear Iran is an existential threat to Israel." This did not stop Petraeus from repeatedly hyping the "existential threat" in his congressional testimony on Jan. 31.
As if in response to Petraeus, on Feb. 8, Pardo's immediate predecessor as head of Mossad, Meir Dagan, stated publicly that he does not think Israel faces an "existential threat" from Iran.
You may wish to make a point of asking Petraeus why he professes to be more concerned about an "existential threat" to Israel than Mossad - and CIA analysts themselves - seem to be.
Logically, at least, the Pardo/Dagan approach would certainly seem to have the upper hand, if there continues to be no hard evidence that Iran is trying to create a nuclear weapon. It bears repeating; essentially nothing has changed since the intelligence community's finding of November 2007: "We judge with high confidence that in fall 2003, Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program."
Defense Ministers Provide Context
Even authoritative statements by top U.S. and Israeli officials have failed to prevent media hype charging that Iran is developing a nuclear weapon. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and his counterpart, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, have publicly stated (on Jan. 8 and Jan. 18 respectively) that Iran is not doing so.
On Face the Nation, Panetta asked himself: "Are they [the Iranians] trying to develop a nuclear weapon?" and immediately answered his own question: "No." Ehud Barak followed suit ten days later. He added that only if Iran expelled the U.N. inspectors would there be "definite proof that time is running out" and that "harsher sanctions or other action against Iran" might then be in order.
It is no secret that the Israeli cabinet is divided on whether to attack Iran, with Netanyahu leading the hawks in pushing for early action. How the Israeli leaders interpret similar differences and mixed signals in Washington will be crucial factors in whether Israel decides to move toward war with Iran. Unfortunately, Netanyahu and other hawkish leaders probably feel supported by your remarks before the Super Bowl game on Feb. 5.
We found what you said on Israel and Iran highly disturbing. You told over a hundred million TV viewers: "My number one priority continues to be the security of the United States, but also the security of Israel."
The two are not necessarily the same and, in our view, need to be separated by more than a comma. Publicly equating the security of the U.S. with that of Israel as your "number one priority" can lead to all kinds of mischief, including war.
For a variety of reasons, mostly Israeli reluctance, there is no mutual defense treaty between the United States and Israel. With no treaty to trigger the supremacy clause in the U.S. Constitution there is no legal obligation for our country to defend Israel. And, as we hope you will agree, there is no moral obligation either, if Israel is the side initiating/provoking hostilities.
We respectfully suggest you make all this clear to Netanyahu when he visits you on March 5. Better still, to be on the safe side, tell him publicly - now.
Oaths
In proudly serving in our country's armed forces, we took an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States from all enemies, foreign and domestic. We still take that oath with the utmost seriousness, the more so since it bears no expiration date.
We did not swear to bear arms if ordered, without due process, to defend Israel or any other country. Nor did the brave men and women now serving on active duty.
In all candor, we see it as your duty to protect our successor comrades in arms from the consequences of what President George Washington called the kind of "passionate attachment" to another country that brings all manner of evil in its wake.
and Founders
The first President of the United States was born 280 years ago today. Thus, it seems all the more appropriate that we end this memorandum with a highly relevant paragraph from Washington's Farewell Address. But before setting that down as a sharp reminder of what is at stake here, we want to urge you again to issue two statements like the ones we suggest above, which are so much in the spirit of our first President's very prescient warning.
In present circumstances, we believe this would be the best way for you to honor the wise insight of George Washington, and to be true to your own oath to defend the Constitution. As veterans of the armed forces, we claim a special right to urge you strongly to make it 100 percent clear that the number one priority of your presidency is the security of the United States, and thus prevent another totally unnecessary war.
From Washington's Farewell Address (1796):
"So likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favorite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter without adequate inducement or justification.
"It leads also to concessions to the favorite nation of privileges denied to others which is apt doubly to injure the nation making the concessions; by unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been retained, and by exciting jealousy, ill-will, and a disposition to retaliate, in the parties from whom equal privileges are withheld.
"And it gives to ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens (who devote themselves to the favorite nation), facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their own country, without odium, sometimes even with popularity..."
© 2012 Consortiumnews.com
Leah Bolger spent 20 years on active duty in the U.S. Navy and retired in 2000 at the rank of Commander. She is currently a full-time peace activist and serves as the President of Veterans For Peace.
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From http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/02/25 ...
US Spies See No Evidence of Iranian Nuclear Weapons Program
Published on Saturday, February 25, 2012 by Common Dreams
- Common Dreams staff
US intelligence agencies believe there is no hard evidence that Iran has decided to build a nuclear bomb, The New York Times reports in today's edition.
[NYTimes yesterday: "US Agencies See No Move by Iran to Build Bomb" by James Risen/Mark Mazzetti
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/25/world/middleeast/us-agencies-see-no-move-by-iran-to-build-a-bomb.html ]
The Times said there was no dispute among American, Israeli and European intelligence officials that Iran had been enriching nuclear fuel and developing infrastructure to become a nuclear power.
But the Central Intelligence Agency and other intelligence agencies believe that Iran has yet to decide whether to resume a parallel program to design a nuclear warhead -- a program they believe was essentially halted in 2003, the paper noted.
* * *
From the New York Times report Saturday:
Recent assessments by American spy agencies are broadly consistent with a 2007 intelligence finding that concluded that Iran had abandoned its nuclear weapons program years earlier, according to current and former American officials. The officials said that assessment was largely reaffirmed in a 2010 National Intelligence Estimate, and that it remains the consensus view of America's 16 intelligence agencies. [...]
Yet some intelligence officials and outside analysts believe there is another possible explanation for Iran's enrichment activity, besides a headlong race to build a bomb as quickly as possible. They say that Iran could be seeking to enhance its influence in the region by creating what some analysts call "strategic ambiguity." Rather than building a bomb now, Iran may want to increase its power by sowing doubt among other nations about its nuclear ambitions. Some point to the examples of Pakistan and India, both of which had clandestine nuclear weapons programs for decades before they actually decided to build bombs and test their weapons in 1998.
"I think the Iranians want the capability, but not a stockpile," said Kenneth C. Brill, a former United States ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency who also served as director of the intelligence community's National Counterproliferation Center from 2005 until 2009. Added a former intelligence official: "The Indians were a screwdriver turn away from having a bomb for many years. The Iranians are not that close."
Amid the ugly aftermath of the botched Iraq intelligence assessments, American spy agencies in 2006 put new analytical procedures in place to avoid repeating the failures. Analysts now have access to raw information about the sources behind intelligence reports, to help better determine the credibility of the sources and prevent another episode like the one in which the C.I.A. based much of its conclusions about Iraq's purported biological weapons on an Iraqi exile who turned out to be lying.
Analysts are also required to include in their reports more information about the chain of logic that has led them to their conclusions, and differing judgments are featured prominently in classified reports, rather than buried in footnotes.
When an unclassified summary of the 2007 intelligence estimate on Iran's nuclear program was made public, stating that it had abandoned work on a bomb, it stunned the Bush administration and the world. It represented a sharp reversal from the intelligence community's 2005 estimate, and drew criticism of the C.I.A. from European and Israeli officials, as well as conservative pundits. They argued that it was part of a larger effort by the C.I.A. to prevent American military action against Iran.
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From http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/02/24 ...
Published on Friday, February 24, 2012 by Inter Press Service
Despite War Drums, Experts Insist Iran Nuclear Deal Possible
by Jim Lobe
Amid the persistent beating of war drums, an influential international conflict prevention group is insisting that a deal between Western countries and Iran on Tehran's controversial nuclear programme can still be reached.
In a new report released Thursday, the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) said such a deal would include Tehran's acceptance of full-scope international safeguards to ensure the programme could not be diverted to military use.
It would also entail Iran's full co-operation in clearing up outstanding questions regarding alleged pre- 2003 nuclear weaponisation research and experimentation, and an exchange of its current stockpile of twenty percent enriched uranium for fuel rods from abroad.
In exchange, the so-called P5+1 countries (the U.N. Security Council's five permanent members - the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China - plus Germany) would freeze implementation of tough new U.S. and European Union (EU) sanctions, recognise Iran's "right to enrich" uranium up to five percent and lift existing sanctions in stages.
The 45-page report, "In Heavy Waters: Iran's Nuclear Program, the Risk of War and Lessons from Turkey", called on the United States and the EU to take their cue from Ankara's approach of full engagement with Iran, instead of isolation, sanctions, sabotage and threats of war on which they have mainly relied to date.
"(A) world community in desperate need of fresh thinking could do worse than learn from Turkey's experience and test its assumptions," the report noted, suggesting that Iran be engaged at all levels and "that those engaging it include a larger variety of countries, including emerging powers with which it feels greater affinity".
"Economic pressure is at best futile, at worse counter-productive," it added, and "Tehran ought to be presented with a realistic proposal."
"If it is either sanctions, whose success is hard to imagine, or military action, whose consequences are terrifying to contemplate, that is not a choice," it said. "It is an abject failure."
The report comes amid continuing speculation about a possible Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.
The administration of President Barack Obama is also under growing pressure by pro-Israel lawmakers in Congress to impose new sanctions against Iran and take concrete steps, including dispatching more naval forces to the Gulf, to enhance the threat of U.S. military action against Tehran if it does not agree to abandon its nuclear programme.
It also comes in the wake of two visits to Tehran by high-level delegations from the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) whose requests to visit a facility on a military base suspected of having been used to test triggering devices for nuclear weapons were reportedly rebuffed.
The delegation and its hosts also failed to agree on an agenda for clearing up outstanding questions regarding Tehran's past research that Western nations believe may have been part of a weaponization programme.
Reviving negotiations
Despite the IAEA's apparent lack of progress, Iran's acceptance last week of a long-standing request from EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on behalf of the P5+1 to resume negotiations, stalled for over a year, makes it likely that a new round of talks will take place in late March or April, probably in Istanbul, according to analysts here.
Anticipation of those talks, as well as the rapid escalation of tensions over the last two months, particularly between Israel and Iran, has provoked a flurry of proposals to revive the dormant diplomatic track, if only to calm a situation threatening to spin out of control.
Those proposals contain the same or similar recommendations to those included in the ICG report.
Early this month, for example, two former top-ranking U.S. diplomats, ICG Chair Thomas Pickering and William Luers, called in a "New York Times" op-ed for the IAEA and the U.N. Security Council to accept a Iranian nuclear programme with certain conditions attached.
The programme would include uranium enrichment to no more than five percent "in return for Iran's agreeing to grant inspectors full access to that programme to assure that Iran did not build a nuclear weapons".
Such a bargain - part of a broader initiative to build confidence and co-operation between the U.S. and Iran on a range of issues of common interest, including Afghanistan and Iraq - would result in the progressive reduction of U.N. sanctions against Iran once the inspection regime was in place.
That proposal was strongly endorsed by the president emeritus of the influential Council on Foreign Relations, Leslie Gelb.
"For sure, neither I nor anyone else knows whether Iran will accept this time. But I do know this: if we don't at least try the negotiating track, a war of untold uncertainties and dangers can come upon us," he wrote in the Daily Beast.
The same basic bargain was also endorsed by Seyed Hossein Mousavian, an Iranian diplomat currently at Princeton University, who served as spokesman for Iran's nuclear negotiating team, in a column for Bloomberg News in mid- February.
Iran should accept the maximum level of transparency with the IAEA, limit enrichment activities to less than five percent, and clear up its nuclear file with the IAEA, he argued, while the West should recognise Tehran's right to enrich and ease sections as part of a "step-by-step plan" proposed by Russia last year.
Perhaps the most intriguing contribution was from Dennis Ross, formerly Obama's chief Iran aide and long considered a hawk on the nuclear issue.
In a Times op-ed, he suggested that the administration was ready to accept a deal that combined intrusive inspections with limits on uranium enrichment and he cited Moscow's step-by-step approach favourably, although he did not address when and how existing sanctions could be eased.
Turkish lessons
The new ICG report notes that Turkey, which has ruled out military action against Iran, has "useful experience" in dealing with Iran's nuclear issue, primarily through its efforts with Brazil in 2010 to work out a confidence-building deal - much of which incorporated the basic elements of the Crisis Group proposal - acceptable to both the P5+1 and Iran.
While the deal was summarily rejected by the U.S. and the EU at the time, Ankara has since worked closely with the Obama administration on a range of major issues during the so-called Arab Spring.
Indeed, Obama has come to consider Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan one of his favourite foreign leaders.
Adding to Ankara's credibility has been its opposition to broad sanctions and its support for dialogue with Iran - positions similar to the views of Russia and China, the report noted.
"This is not to say that Turkey is amenable to a nuclear-armed Iran," the report said.
"But it is far more sympathetic to the view that the West cannot dictate who can have a nuclear capacity and who cannot; is less alarmist when it comes to the status of Iran's program; and believes that the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran is both distant and unsure."
Copyright © 2012 IPS-Inter Press Service
Jim Lobe has served as Washington DC correspondent and chief of the Washington bureau of Inter Press Service (IPS), an international news agency specializing in coverage of issues and events of interest to developing countries, from 1980 to 1985, and again from 1989 to the present.
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From http://www.fpif.org/articles/the_slide_toward_war ...
The Slide Toward War
By Conn Hallinan, February 23, 2012
Wars are fought because some people decide it is in their interests to fight them. World War I was not started over the Archduke Ferdinand's assassination, nor was it triggered by the alliance system. An "incident" may set the stage for war, but no one keeps shooting unless they think it's a good idea. The Great War started because the countries involved decided they would profit by it, delusional as that conclusion was.
It is useful to keep this idea in mind when trying to figure out whether the United States or Israel will go to war with Iran. In short, what are the interests of the protagonists, and are they important enough for those nations to take the fateful step into the chaos of battle?
Israel's Political Problem
According to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Iran is building nuclear weapons that pose an "existential" threat to Israel. But virtually no one believes this, including the bulk of Tel Aviv's military and intelligence communities. As former Israeli Chief of Staff Dan Halutz said recently, Iran "is not an existential" threat to Israel. There is no evidence that Iran is building a bomb, and all its facilities are currently under a 24-hour United Nations inspection regime.
So from a strictly security perspective, Israel has little reason to go to war with Iran. But Israel does have an interest in keeping the Middle East a fragmented place, riven by sectarian divisions and dominated by authoritarian governments and feudal monarchies. If there is one lesson Israel has learned from its former British overlords, it is "divide and conquer." Among its closest allies were the former dictatorships in Egypt and Tunisia. It now finds itself on the same page as the reactionary monarchies of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC): Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, and Oman.
Iran is not a military threat to Israel, but it is a political problem: Tel Aviv sees Tehran's fierce nationalism and independence from the West as a wildcard. Iran is also allied to Israel's major regional enemy, Syria-with which Israel is still officially at war-as well as Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, and the Shiite-dominated government in Iraq.
In the Netanyahu government's analysis, beating up on Iran would weaken Israel's local enemies at little cost. Tel Aviv's scenario features a shock-and-awe attack followed by a UN-mandated ceasefire, with a maximum of 500 Israeli casualties. The Iranians have little capacity to strike back, and if they did attack Israeli civilian centers or tried to close the Strait of Hormuz, it would bring in the Americans.
Of course, that rose-colored scenario is little more than wishful thinking. Iran is not likely to agree to a rapid ceasefire; it fought for eight long years against Iraq, and war has a habit of derailing the best-laid plans. A war between Israel and Iran would be long and bloody and might well spread to the entire region.
Iran's leaders dispense a lot of bombast about punishing Israel if it attacks, but in the short run there is not a lot they could do, particularly given the red lines Washington has drawn. The Iranian air force is obsolete, and the Israelis have the technology to blank out most of Tehran's radar and anti-aircraft sites. Iran could do little to stop Tel Aviv's mixture of air attacks, submarine-fired cruise missiles, and Jericho ballistic missiles.
The United States and Its Allies
For all its talk about how "all options are on the table," the Obama administration appears to be trying to avoid a war. But with the 2012 elections looming, could Washington remain on the sidelines? Polls indicate that Americans would not look with favor on a new Middle East war, but a united front of Republicans, neoconservatives, and the American Israeli Political Action Committee is pressing for a confrontation with Iran.
Israeli sources suggest that Netanyahu may calculate that an election-season Israeli attack might force the Obama administration to back a war and/or damage Obama's re-election chances. It is no secret that there is no love lost between the two leaders.
But the United States also has a dog in this fight. American hostility to Iran dates back to Tehran's seizure of its oil assets from Britain in 1951. The CIA helped overthrow the democratically elected Iranian government in 1953 and install the dictatorial Shah. The United States also backed Saddam Hussein's war on Iran, has had a longstanding antagonistic relationship with Syria, and will not talk with Hezbollah or Hamas. Tel Aviv's local enemies are Washington's local enemies.
When the Gulf monarchs formed the GCC in 1981, its primary purpose was to oppose Iranian influence in the Middle East. Using religious division as a wedge, the GCC has encouraged Sunni fundamentalists to fight Shiites in Lebanon, Iraq, and Syria, and largely blocked the spread of the "Arab Spring" to its own turf. When Shiites in Bahrain began protesting over a lack of democracy and low wages, the GCC invaded and crushed the demonstrations. The GCC does not see eye-to-eye with the United States and Israel on the Palestinians-although it is careful not to annoy Washington and Tel Aviv-but the GCC is on the same page as both capitals concerning Syria, Lebanon, and Iran.
The European Union (EU) has joined the sanctions, although France and Germany have explicitly rejected the use of force. Motivations in the EU range from France's desire to reclaim its former influence in Lebanon to Europe's need to keep its finger on the world's energy jugular.
Setting the Stage for Tragedy
In brief, it isn't all about oil and gas, but a whole lot of it is - and, as CounterPunch's Alexander Cockburn points out, oil companies would like to see production cut and prices rise. Another war in the Persian Gulf would accomplish both.
Iran will be the victim here, but elements within the regime will take advantage of any war to consolidate their power. An attack would unify the country around what is now a rather unpopular government. It would allow the Revolutionary Guard to crush its opposition and give cover to the Ahmadinejad government's drive to cut subsidies for transportation, housing, and food. A war would cement the power of the most reactionary elements of the current regime.
There are other actors in this drama-China, Russia, India, Turkey, and Pakistan for starters, none of whom supports a war-but whether they can influence events is an open question. In the end, Israel may just decide that its interests are best served by starting a war and that the United States will go along.
Or maybe this is all sound and fury signifying nothing?
Israel, the West, and the Gulf Cooperation Council share many of the same interests. Unfortunately, they also share the belief that force is an effective way to achieve one's goals.
On such illusions are tragedies built.
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From http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/02/24-9 ...
Published on Friday, February 24, 2012 by The Guardian/UK
Drumbeat of War with Iran Has a Familiar Ring
Impetus towards war with Iran can only be explained in terms of a western desire for Iraq-style regime change
by Simon Tisdall
The drumbeat of war with Iran grows steadily more intense. Each day brings more defiant rhetoric from Tehran, another failed UN nuclear inspection, reports of western military preparations, an assassination, a missile test, or a dire warning that, once again, the world is sliding towards catastrophe. If this all feels familiar, that's because it is. For Iran, read Iraq in the countdown to the 2003 invasion.
As with Iraq in 2003, the sense that war is inevitable is being encouraged by hardliners on all sides.
A decisive moment may arrive when Barack Obama meets Israel's prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, in Washington on 5 March. "The meeting will be definitive," said Ari Shavit in Haaretz. "If the US president wants to prevent a disaster, he must give Netanyahu iron-clad guarantees the US will stop Iran in any way necessary and at any price after the 2012 [US] elections. If Obama doesn't do this, he will obligate Netanyahu to act before the 2012 elections."
If accurate, this is not much of a choice. It suggests military action by the US or Israel or both is unavoidable, the only question being one of timing. Objectively speaking, this is not actually the position. All concerned still have choices. The case against Iran's nuclear programme is far from proven. It is widely agreed that limited military strikes will not work; a more extensive, longer-lasting campaign would be required. And Obama in particular, having striven to end the Iraq and Afghan wars, is loath to start another.
But as with Iraq in 2003, the sense that war is inevitable and unstoppable is being energetically encouraged by political hardliners and their media accomplices on all sides, producing a momentum that even the un-bellicose Obama may find hard to resist.
A recent analysis of US public opinion revealed deeply ambivalent attitudes on Iran, with the majority of Americans apparently favouring diplomatic solutions. Yet as Republican presidential candidates exploit the issue, as the Israelis lobby America, and as Iranian factions manoeuvre ahead of parliamentary polls, the likelihood grows that doves and doubters will again be either converted or ignored.
In some key respects, the Iran crisis is distinctly different from that over Iraq in 2002-03. As matters stand, similarly strident warmongering surrounding Iran is thus hard to understand or explain - unless the ultimate, unstated objective is not to curb Iran's nuclear programme but, as in Iraq, to overthrow its rulers.
Bogeymen
George Bush and Tony Blair claimed a moral imperative in toppling the "monstrous" dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. But the much vilified Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's president, is no Saddam, and neither is the country's bumbling Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Iranian regime is repressive and sporadically brutal, but so too are many developing world governments. Unlike Saddam's Ba'athists, it has significant democratic and ideological underpinning. As a bogeyman whose depredations might justify international intervention, Ahmadinejad is a flop.
Weapons of Mass Destruction
Saddam, notoriously, had no deployable or usable WMD, but his overthrow was primarily justified by the mistaken belief that he did. The present western consensus is that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons capability, but does not have an atomic bomb and is not currently trying to build one. Khamenei said this week that nuclear weapons were "useless and harmful" and that possessing them was sinful . Netanyahu's belief that Israel faces an imminent, existential threat is visceral rather than fact-based. Israel's refusal to acknowledge its own nuclear arsenal, let alone contemplate its reduction, further undermines the case for action.
Terrorism
Plenty of evidence exists that Iran supports, or has supported, armed militants, jihadis, and anti-Israeli and anti-western armed groups in Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, providing financial and political backing, arms and training. In this respect, its behaviour is more threatening to western interests than was that of Saddam's secular regime, no friend to Islamists. But limited or even protracted attacks on Iran's nuclear and/or military facilities would not end these links, unless there was a shift of political direction in Tehran.
Strategic power-games
Iraq was considered important for its strategic position at the heart of the Arab Middle East and its economic potential, especially its oil reserves. Similarly, there can be no doubt the US and Britain would like to see energy-rich Iran return to the western camp, as in the pre-revolution days of the Shah. Conversely, Iran's military is more powerful and more committed to the defence of the status quo, from which it benefits greatly, than was Iraq's. The potential disruption to oil supplies and western economies, not to mention the impact of asymmetric Iranian counter-attacks, makes a resort to war contingent on producing lasting dividends.
Political imperatives
In contrast to the splits over Iraq, the main western powers are united in their determination to bring Iran to heel. As well as Netanyahu, David Cameron, Nicolas Sarkozy and Barack Obama have all declared an Iranian bomb unacceptable. Their inflexibility thus makes war more rather than less likely should Iran refuse to back down. "Having made the case for urgency and concerted action, it would be difficult for Obama to tell the world 'never mind' and shift to a strategy that accepts Iranian membership in the nuclear club," said Michael Gerson in the Washington Post.
In short, the Iranian crisis differs from that over Iraq in 2003 in key respects. But the current impetus towards war can only be explained in terms of a western desire for Iraq-style regime change - because only regime change may achieve the de-nuclearisation the west insists upon.
© 2012 The Guardian
Simon Tisdall is an assistant editor of the Guardian and a foreign affairs columnist. He was previously a foreign leader writer for the paper and has also served as its foreign editor and its US editor, based in Washington DC. He was the Observer's foreign editor from 1996-98
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From http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/02/25-1 ...
Published on Saturday, February 25, 2012 by Common Dreams
Squeezing Iran on Nuclear Developments
by Arun Elhance
As of this moment no one knows for sure if the Iranian leadership really intends to build a nuclear weapon. What we do know is that Israel and the US are leading a well-orchestrated fight against Iran's nuclear development program. They have roped in some of their friends in Western Europe-mainly Britain and France--to support their own machinations in that regard by collectively imposing sanctions of all types against the leaders and citizens of Iran. It must be noted outright that all of the members of this "coalition of the willing" are themselves armed to the hilt with nuclear weapons and long-range missiles that can deliver those weapons of mass destruction anywhere on earth. Do they have any moral right to squeeze Iran to prevent it from developing and deploying similar weapons that they themselves keep developing and deploying with impunity, and with complete disregard for majority world-opinion that these weapons should be eliminated all together?
There are no permanent friends when it comes to international relations, only convenient bed-fellows, as a wise sage once said. The one you consider as a friend during the night can easily turn into a deadly enemy in the morning. So, let us look at Iran's genuine fears and security concerns vis-à-vis the so-called "civilized" and "peaceful" nations of Israel, the US and some other counties in Asia and Europe.
Iran shares a long and highly porous border with Afghanistan and Pakistan. There are remotely-controlled American "drones" in those countries killing the alleged Taliban leaders and fighters, and many more civilians besides. Who knows if the Americans have not stationed some drones, nukes and missiles in their many military bases in those countries to take care of Iran if and when the need arises? One thing we know for sure is that there are American ships and submarines floating everywhere around the world with nuclear weapons and missiles: cruise missiles being just a lesser category of the weapons of mass destruction that have already been used in Sudan and Afghanistan, among other places.
Pakistan is rapidly becoming a failed state with an arsenal of nuclear weapons. What happens if there is a regime change in the country? Will the new Pakistani rulers and their intelligence operators in the ISI and other spy agencies love Iran or nuke it when they feel like it?
Beyond Pakistan is India, another "peaceful" country with nuclear weapons as well as missiles that can deliver them over long distances: Iran is just next door really. Then there is China with its own atom and hydrogen bombs that can rein down on Iran any day if the Chinese communist leaders so decide. Let us also not forget North Korea with its arsenal of nukes and missiles. And, who is to say if there are not American nuclear weapons and missiles stationed in South Korea? The same goes for Japan even though the Americans and the Japanese political leaders and militaries deny this vehemently. For that matter, does Taiwan also host some nuclear weapons just in case China decided to take over the island some day as its leaders have repeatedly stated?
There is Russia also with its huge arsenal of nuclear weapons and missiles, with no love lost for its own Muslim population. And, it is still developing new nuclear weapons to match the stock-piles the US and her friends currently have and are still developing.
Finally, there is Israel. We all know, or should know by now, about its growing stock-pile of nuclear weapons and long-range missiles that can strike Iran at any time. Israelis are also alleged to be killing Iranian nuclear scientist over the last few years in Teheran and elsewhere against all norms of human rights and diplomacy. Israel is also a country that has been repeatedly imprisoning and allegedly torturing, at least psychologically, one of its own citizens, Mordechai Vannunu, since 1986 when he first revealed some details about Israel's nuclear weapons program to the international community. Are we really supposed to believe that the Israelis leaders are any saner or less ominous than the leaders of Iran. Can we be sure?
So let us seriously ponder if the leaders of Iran are crazy to be paranoid about the potential dangers they face from all the nuclear-crazies that surround them and can annihilate them from near or far at short notice? They must also be looking at how no established nuclear power in the world today has ever been really punished for developing and deploying these ominous weapons of mass destruction: India, Israel, North Korea and Pakistan are just the latest examples of this crazy state of affairs. If the leaders of the US, Britain, China, France, India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, and Russia can be trusted with managing their nuclear weapons in any kind of an enlightened way, there is no reason whatsoever not to extend the same courtesy to the much-maligned Iranian leaders.
Nothing short of an immediate global movement for Destroying All Nuclear Weapons Now (DAWN) can save us. That is the only sane choice we have in this nuclear-crazy world of ours. Iran is just the latest example of our collective madness.
Arun P. Elhance is a writer and social commentator living in Nairobi, Kenya
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Recall-- from http://consortiumnews.com/2011/12/31/cables-hold-clues-to-u-s-iran-mysteries ...
[pertinent excerpt here]
"Cables Hold Clues to U.S.-Iran Mysteries" by Robert Parry [12/31/11]
"By early 2010, both China and Russia had agreed not to exercise their UN Security Council vetoes to stop new sanctions against Iran. A January 2010 cable reported that a Russian official had "indicated Russia's willingness to move to the pressure track." Meanwhile, Iran's internal dissension had complicated an agreement on a low-enriched uranium swap. Though the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad embraced the idea in fall 2009, agreeing to give up about half of Iran's low-enriched uranium to get nuclear isotopes for medical research, some of his political opponents - favored by the West - attacked the proposed deal.
When Ahmadinejad's government sought some modifications on how the uranium would be transferred, the Obama administration dismissed any changes and the major U.S. news media jumped on Ahmadinejad for supposedly reneging on the original agreement. The leaked cables, however, shed new light on what was actually occurring. The Obama administration wasn't really committed to the swap idea as much as it was using the appearance of negotiations to set the stage for a new round of sanctions. The moves by Iran's internal opposition to torpedo the deal also look different in this context, as possibly a tactic to help the West isolate Ahmadinejad's government.
In spring 2010, Ahmadinejad agreed to another version of the uranium swap proposed by the leaders of Brazil and Turkey, with the apparent backing of President Obama. However, that arrangement came under fierce attack by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, considered a hawk on Iran, and was mocked by leading U.S. news outlets, including the New York Times and the Washington Post.
The ridicule of Brazil and Turkey - as bumbling understudies on the world stage - continued even after Brazil released Obama's private letter to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva encouraging Brazil and Turkey to work out the deal. Despite the letter's release, Obama didn't publicly defend the swap and instead joined in scuttling the deal. Much like during the run-up to war with Iraq, opinion leaders at the New York Times and Washington Post eagerly beat the drums for another confrontation."
ideas.
Please let us know as soon as possible if you can join our Real Majority Project (hopefully with folks from DutchessPeace.org coalition) this Friday Mar. 2nd at 4:30 pm-- for our Rally To Stop War with Iran in front of Rep. Nan Hayworth's Fishkill office just off Rt. 52 (2 Summit Court, Suite 103)!...
[no. Dutchess folks: let us know if you can join us for similar rally soon at Gibson's Red Hook Rt. 9 office; see: http://www.dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2012/02/iran-update-new-pipa-poll-even-65-of.html ]
Need more reason to come out Fri.?...Check out these seven brand-new ones just off the net-- read/fwd:
[let your fingers do the walkin'!...White House-- (202) 456-1111; Capitol Switchboard-- (202) 224-3121]
1. NYTimes yesterday: "US Agencies See No Move by Iran to Build Bomb" (James Risen/Mark Mazzetti)
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/25/world/middleeast/us-agencies-see-no-move-by-iran-to-build-a-bomb.html ]
2. "Need to Talk Sense to Netanyahu" by Leah Bolger, President of http://www.VeteransforPeace.org
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/02/23-6 [THIS ONE'S MUST READ FOLKS(!) from Thurs.]
3. "U.S. Spies See No Evidence of Iranian Nuclear Weapons Program" [Common Dreams yesterday]
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/02/25
4. "Despite War Drums, Experts Insist Iran Nuclear Deal Possible" by Jim Lobe [Friday]
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/02/24
5. "The Slide Toward War" by Conn Hallinan [Thursday]
http://www.fpif.org/articles/the_slide_toward_war
6. "Drumbeat of War with Iran Has a Familiar Ring" by Simon Tisdall
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/02/24-9 [Friday's Guardian/UK]
7. "Squeezing Iran on Nuclear Developments" by Arun Elhance [yesterday]
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/02/25-1
And-- recall op-ed piece from the New York Times Jan. 15th [many in media/gov. ignore these polls]:
["Preventing a Nuclear Iran, Peacefully" by Shibley Telhami and Steven Kull]
From http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/16/opinion/preventing-a-nuclear-iran-peacefully.html ...
"When asked whether it would be better for both Israel and Iran to have the bomb, or for neither to have it, 65 percent of Israeli Jews said neither. And a remarkable 64 percent favored the idea of a nuclear-free zone, even when it was explained that this would mean Israel giving up its nuclear weapons. Despite all the talk of an "existential threat," less than half of Israelis support a strike on Iran. According to our November poll, carried out in cooperation with the Dahaf Institute in Israel, only 43 percent of Israeli Jews support a military strike on Iran - even though 90 percent of them think that Iran will eventually acquire nuclear weapons. The Israeli public also seems willing to move away from a secretive nuclear policy toward greater openness about Israel's nuclear facilities. Sixty percent of respondents favored "a system of full international inspections" of all nuclear facilities, including Israel's and Iran's, as a step toward regional disarmament. And a 2007 poll by the Program on International Policy Attitudes found that the Iranian people would favor such a deal."
[more re: poll see: http://www.worldpublicopinion.org/pipa/pdf/dec11/IsraeliMENFZ_Dec11_quaire.pdf ]
[see FAIR Action Alert: "NYTimes Lets Unnamed Officials Smear Critics as 'Terrorists'":
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2012/02/24 ]
Recall as well these other nine must-read's re: Iran of uncommon common sense/sanity in Middle East:
1. "Iran: Willing to Deal" by Richard Javad Heydarian [posted up online yesterday]
http://www.fpif.org/articles/iran_willing_to_deal
2. "Iran: Outgunned in the Gulf" by Rex Wingerter [from last Thursday]
http://www.fpif.org/articles/iran_outgunned_in_the_gulf
3. "Iran Uses Terror to Target Civilians, and So Does Israel" by Gideon Levy [Haaretz (Israel) Sunday]
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/02/20-3
4. "Another March to War?" by Matt Taibbi [2/18/12 Rolling Stone]
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/02/18-1
5. "Iran Tensions Rise with Diplomat Bombings, Scientist Killings, Nuke Claims, Media Warmongering"
[Glenn Greenwald of Salon & Reza Marashi of National Iranian American Council last Thurs.-- D- Now]
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/2/16/iran_tensions_rise_with_diplomat_bombings
6. "We've Seen the Threats Against Iran Before" by Phyllis Bennis [posted online Friday]
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/02/17-0
7. "Iran Nuclear Coverage Echoes Iraq War Media Frenzy" [posted to CommonDreams Friday]
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/02/17-2
8. "Cables Hold Clues to U.S.-Iran Mysteries" by Robert Parry [12/31/11]
http://consortiumnews.com/2011/12/31/cables-hold-clues-to-u-s-iran-mysteries
9. My last blog post Feb. 2nd on all this (re: stopping sabre-rattling towards war w/Iran)
http://www.dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2012/02/stop-sabre-rattling-re-war-with-iran-de.html
[pass it on]
Joel
845-444-0599/876-2488
joeltyner@earthlink.net
http://www.JoelforCongress.org
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel
[help us speak truth to power; send $ to Joel for Congress 324 Browns Pond Rd. Staatsburg, NY 12580]
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From http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/02/23-6 ...
Published on Thursday, February 23, 2012 by ConsortiumNews.com
Need to Talk Sense to Netanyahu
by Leah Bolger
Recalling President George Washington's farewell advice against tying the United States too closely to any foreign nation, Veterans for Peace urges President Obama to publicly warn Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu against attacking Iran with the expectation of U.S. military support.
MEMORANDUM FOR: The President
FROM: Veterans for Peace
SUBJECT: You Need to Talk Sense to Netanyahu
We members of Veterans for Peace have served in every war since WW II. We know war. And we know when it smells like war. It smells that way now, with drums beating loudly for attacking Iran.
Information offered by the media to "prove" Iran a threat bears an eerie resemblance to the "evidence" ginned up to "justify" war on Iraq - evidence later described by the Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, after a five-year committee investigation, as "unsubstantiated, contradicted, or even non-existent."
The good news this time around is that sane policy toward Israel and Iran can find support in a principled U.S. intelligence community, which has rebuffed attempts to force it to serve up doctored "evidence" to justify war. U.S. intelligence continues to adhere to the unanimous, "high-confidence" judgment, set forth in the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) of November 2007 that Iran stopped working on a nuclear weapon in 2003.
(It may be of more than incidental interest to you that both President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have openly admitted that the 2007 NIE put the kibosh on U.S.-Israeli plans to strike Iran in 2008.)
We hope you have been adequately briefed on the findings of the November 2011 report on Iran by the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Those findings are consistent with the key judgments of the U.S. intelligence community expressed four years earlier. The IAEA report contained no evidence that Iran has yet decided to build nuclear weapons, despite widespread media hype to the contrary.
Needed: Presidential Action
We believe that you have the power to nip the current warmongering in the bud by taking essentially two key steps:
1-Announce publicly that you will not allow the United States to be drawn into war if Israel attacks Iran or provokes hostilities in some other way.
In threatening and planning such attacks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his supporters are assuming you would have no option other than to commit U.S. forces in support of Israel. To assume automatic support from the world's sole remaining superpower is a heady thing and an invitation to adventurism.
We are aware that you have dispatched emissary after emissary to ask the Israelis please not to start a war. We mean no offense to those messengers, but there is very little reason to believe that they are taken seriously.
We are convinced that only a strong public demurral from you personally would have much chance of disabusing Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders of the notion that they can expect full American support, no matter how hostilities with Iran begin.
The Risks of Silence
A public statement now could pre-empt a catastrophic war. Conversely, the Israeli leaders are likely to interpret unwillingness on your part to speak out clearly as a sign that you will find it politically impossible to deny Israel military support once it is engaged in hostilities with Iran.
What we find surprising (and the Israelis presumably find reassuring) is the nonchalance with which Official Washington and the media discuss the possible outbreak of war. From officials and pundits alike, the notion has gained currency that an attack on Iran is an acceptable option, and that the only remaining questions are if and when the Israelis will choose to attack.
Little heed is paid to the fact that, absent an immediate threat to Israel, such an attack would be a war of aggression as defined and condemned at the Nuremberg Tribunal.
Joint Chiefs Chairman Martin Dempsey's anemic remark on Sunday that an Israeli attack on Iran would be "not prudent" is precisely the kind of understatement to give Netanyahu the impression that he essentially has carte blanche to start hostilities with Iran, anticipating a mere tap on the knuckles - if that - from Washington.
2-Announce to the people of the United States and the world that Iran presents no immediate threat to Israel, much less the U.S.
That Iran is no threat to America is clear. Your secretary of state has acknowledged this publicly. For example, speaking in Qatar on Feb. 14, 2010, Secretary Clinton said that, were Iran to pursue a nuclear weapon, this would "not directly threaten the United States," but would pose a threat to our "partners here in this region."
Secretary Clinton has made it clear that the partner she has uppermost in mind is Israel. She and the Israeli leaders have used the media to hype this "threat," even though it is widely recognized that it would be suicidal for Iran to use such a weapon against Israel - armed as it is with hundreds of nuclear weapons.
The media have drummed into us that a nuclear weapon in Iran's hands would pose an "existential" threat to Israel, a claim that is difficult to challenge - that is, until one gives it careful thought. Now is the time to challenge it. Indeed, the whole notion is such a stretch that even some very senior Israeli officials have begun to challenge it in public, as we shall point out later in this memorandum.
Chirac Spoof on the "Threat"
Former French President Jacques Chirac is perhaps the best-known Western statesman to ridicule the notion that Israel, with at least 200 to 300 nuclear weapons in its arsenal, would consider Iran's possession of a nuclear bomb or two an existential threat.
In a recorded interview with the New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, and Le Nouvel Observateur, on Jan. 29, 2007, Chirac put it this way: "Where will it drop it, this bomb? On Israel? It would not have gone 200 meters into the atmosphere before Tehran would be razed." Chirac concluded that Iran's possession of a nuclear bomb would not be "very dangerous."
Oddly, Chirac's logic has found more receptivity among some of Netanyahu's top officials than with your own strongly pro-Israel advisers, which now include CIA chief David Petraeus. You may be unaware that Petraeus repeatedly raised the "existential-threat-to-Israel" shibboleth in his recent testimony to Congress.
Petraeus: An "Existentialist"?
At the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Jan. 31, Petraeus said he had talked just days before with his Israeli counterpart, Mossad chief Tamir Pardo, who was visiting Washington. Is it conceivable that Petraeus's staff had not briefed him on Pardo's dismissive remarks on the supposed "existential threat" just weeks before?
According to Israeli press reports, on Dec. 27, 2011, Pardo complained to an audience of about 100 Israeli ambassadors: "The term 'existential threat' is used too freely If one said a nuclear bomb in Iranian hands was an 'existential threat,' that would mean we would have to close up shop and go home. That's not the situation."
One of the ambassadors in the audience told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz that Pardo's remarks "clearly implied that he doesn't think a nuclear Iran is an existential threat to Israel." This did not stop Petraeus from repeatedly hyping the "existential threat" in his congressional testimony on Jan. 31.
As if in response to Petraeus, on Feb. 8, Pardo's immediate predecessor as head of Mossad, Meir Dagan, stated publicly that he does not think Israel faces an "existential threat" from Iran.
You may wish to make a point of asking Petraeus why he professes to be more concerned about an "existential threat" to Israel than Mossad - and CIA analysts themselves - seem to be.
Logically, at least, the Pardo/Dagan approach would certainly seem to have the upper hand, if there continues to be no hard evidence that Iran is trying to create a nuclear weapon. It bears repeating; essentially nothing has changed since the intelligence community's finding of November 2007: "We judge with high confidence that in fall 2003, Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program."
Defense Ministers Provide Context
Even authoritative statements by top U.S. and Israeli officials have failed to prevent media hype charging that Iran is developing a nuclear weapon. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and his counterpart, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, have publicly stated (on Jan. 8 and Jan. 18 respectively) that Iran is not doing so.
On Face the Nation, Panetta asked himself: "Are they [the Iranians] trying to develop a nuclear weapon?" and immediately answered his own question: "No." Ehud Barak followed suit ten days later. He added that only if Iran expelled the U.N. inspectors would there be "definite proof that time is running out" and that "harsher sanctions or other action against Iran" might then be in order.
It is no secret that the Israeli cabinet is divided on whether to attack Iran, with Netanyahu leading the hawks in pushing for early action. How the Israeli leaders interpret similar differences and mixed signals in Washington will be crucial factors in whether Israel decides to move toward war with Iran. Unfortunately, Netanyahu and other hawkish leaders probably feel supported by your remarks before the Super Bowl game on Feb. 5.
We found what you said on Israel and Iran highly disturbing. You told over a hundred million TV viewers: "My number one priority continues to be the security of the United States, but also the security of Israel."
The two are not necessarily the same and, in our view, need to be separated by more than a comma. Publicly equating the security of the U.S. with that of Israel as your "number one priority" can lead to all kinds of mischief, including war.
For a variety of reasons, mostly Israeli reluctance, there is no mutual defense treaty between the United States and Israel. With no treaty to trigger the supremacy clause in the U.S. Constitution there is no legal obligation for our country to defend Israel. And, as we hope you will agree, there is no moral obligation either, if Israel is the side initiating/provoking hostilities.
We respectfully suggest you make all this clear to Netanyahu when he visits you on March 5. Better still, to be on the safe side, tell him publicly - now.
Oaths
In proudly serving in our country's armed forces, we took an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States from all enemies, foreign and domestic. We still take that oath with the utmost seriousness, the more so since it bears no expiration date.
We did not swear to bear arms if ordered, without due process, to defend Israel or any other country. Nor did the brave men and women now serving on active duty.
In all candor, we see it as your duty to protect our successor comrades in arms from the consequences of what President George Washington called the kind of "passionate attachment" to another country that brings all manner of evil in its wake.
and Founders
The first President of the United States was born 280 years ago today. Thus, it seems all the more appropriate that we end this memorandum with a highly relevant paragraph from Washington's Farewell Address. But before setting that down as a sharp reminder of what is at stake here, we want to urge you again to issue two statements like the ones we suggest above, which are so much in the spirit of our first President's very prescient warning.
In present circumstances, we believe this would be the best way for you to honor the wise insight of George Washington, and to be true to your own oath to defend the Constitution. As veterans of the armed forces, we claim a special right to urge you strongly to make it 100 percent clear that the number one priority of your presidency is the security of the United States, and thus prevent another totally unnecessary war.
From Washington's Farewell Address (1796):
"So likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favorite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter without adequate inducement or justification.
"It leads also to concessions to the favorite nation of privileges denied to others which is apt doubly to injure the nation making the concessions; by unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been retained, and by exciting jealousy, ill-will, and a disposition to retaliate, in the parties from whom equal privileges are withheld.
"And it gives to ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens (who devote themselves to the favorite nation), facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their own country, without odium, sometimes even with popularity..."
© 2012 Consortiumnews.com
Leah Bolger spent 20 years on active duty in the U.S. Navy and retired in 2000 at the rank of Commander. She is currently a full-time peace activist and serves as the President of Veterans For Peace.
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From http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/02/25 ...
US Spies See No Evidence of Iranian Nuclear Weapons Program
Published on Saturday, February 25, 2012 by Common Dreams
- Common Dreams staff
US intelligence agencies believe there is no hard evidence that Iran has decided to build a nuclear bomb, The New York Times reports in today's edition.
[NYTimes yesterday: "US Agencies See No Move by Iran to Build Bomb" by James Risen/Mark Mazzetti
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/25/world/middleeast/us-agencies-see-no-move-by-iran-to-build-a-bomb.html ]
The Times said there was no dispute among American, Israeli and European intelligence officials that Iran had been enriching nuclear fuel and developing infrastructure to become a nuclear power.
But the Central Intelligence Agency and other intelligence agencies believe that Iran has yet to decide whether to resume a parallel program to design a nuclear warhead -- a program they believe was essentially halted in 2003, the paper noted.
* * *
From the New York Times report Saturday:
Recent assessments by American spy agencies are broadly consistent with a 2007 intelligence finding that concluded that Iran had abandoned its nuclear weapons program years earlier, according to current and former American officials. The officials said that assessment was largely reaffirmed in a 2010 National Intelligence Estimate, and that it remains the consensus view of America's 16 intelligence agencies. [...]
Yet some intelligence officials and outside analysts believe there is another possible explanation for Iran's enrichment activity, besides a headlong race to build a bomb as quickly as possible. They say that Iran could be seeking to enhance its influence in the region by creating what some analysts call "strategic ambiguity." Rather than building a bomb now, Iran may want to increase its power by sowing doubt among other nations about its nuclear ambitions. Some point to the examples of Pakistan and India, both of which had clandestine nuclear weapons programs for decades before they actually decided to build bombs and test their weapons in 1998.
"I think the Iranians want the capability, but not a stockpile," said Kenneth C. Brill, a former United States ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency who also served as director of the intelligence community's National Counterproliferation Center from 2005 until 2009. Added a former intelligence official: "The Indians were a screwdriver turn away from having a bomb for many years. The Iranians are not that close."
Amid the ugly aftermath of the botched Iraq intelligence assessments, American spy agencies in 2006 put new analytical procedures in place to avoid repeating the failures. Analysts now have access to raw information about the sources behind intelligence reports, to help better determine the credibility of the sources and prevent another episode like the one in which the C.I.A. based much of its conclusions about Iraq's purported biological weapons on an Iraqi exile who turned out to be lying.
Analysts are also required to include in their reports more information about the chain of logic that has led them to their conclusions, and differing judgments are featured prominently in classified reports, rather than buried in footnotes.
When an unclassified summary of the 2007 intelligence estimate on Iran's nuclear program was made public, stating that it had abandoned work on a bomb, it stunned the Bush administration and the world. It represented a sharp reversal from the intelligence community's 2005 estimate, and drew criticism of the C.I.A. from European and Israeli officials, as well as conservative pundits. They argued that it was part of a larger effort by the C.I.A. to prevent American military action against Iran.
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From http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/02/24 ...
Published on Friday, February 24, 2012 by Inter Press Service
Despite War Drums, Experts Insist Iran Nuclear Deal Possible
by Jim Lobe
Amid the persistent beating of war drums, an influential international conflict prevention group is insisting that a deal between Western countries and Iran on Tehran's controversial nuclear programme can still be reached.
In a new report released Thursday, the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) said such a deal would include Tehran's acceptance of full-scope international safeguards to ensure the programme could not be diverted to military use.
It would also entail Iran's full co-operation in clearing up outstanding questions regarding alleged pre- 2003 nuclear weaponisation research and experimentation, and an exchange of its current stockpile of twenty percent enriched uranium for fuel rods from abroad.
In exchange, the so-called P5+1 countries (the U.N. Security Council's five permanent members - the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China - plus Germany) would freeze implementation of tough new U.S. and European Union (EU) sanctions, recognise Iran's "right to enrich" uranium up to five percent and lift existing sanctions in stages.
The 45-page report, "In Heavy Waters: Iran's Nuclear Program, the Risk of War and Lessons from Turkey", called on the United States and the EU to take their cue from Ankara's approach of full engagement with Iran, instead of isolation, sanctions, sabotage and threats of war on which they have mainly relied to date.
"(A) world community in desperate need of fresh thinking could do worse than learn from Turkey's experience and test its assumptions," the report noted, suggesting that Iran be engaged at all levels and "that those engaging it include a larger variety of countries, including emerging powers with which it feels greater affinity".
"Economic pressure is at best futile, at worse counter-productive," it added, and "Tehran ought to be presented with a realistic proposal."
"If it is either sanctions, whose success is hard to imagine, or military action, whose consequences are terrifying to contemplate, that is not a choice," it said. "It is an abject failure."
The report comes amid continuing speculation about a possible Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.
The administration of President Barack Obama is also under growing pressure by pro-Israel lawmakers in Congress to impose new sanctions against Iran and take concrete steps, including dispatching more naval forces to the Gulf, to enhance the threat of U.S. military action against Tehran if it does not agree to abandon its nuclear programme.
It also comes in the wake of two visits to Tehran by high-level delegations from the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) whose requests to visit a facility on a military base suspected of having been used to test triggering devices for nuclear weapons were reportedly rebuffed.
The delegation and its hosts also failed to agree on an agenda for clearing up outstanding questions regarding Tehran's past research that Western nations believe may have been part of a weaponization programme.
Reviving negotiations
Despite the IAEA's apparent lack of progress, Iran's acceptance last week of a long-standing request from EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on behalf of the P5+1 to resume negotiations, stalled for over a year, makes it likely that a new round of talks will take place in late March or April, probably in Istanbul, according to analysts here.
Anticipation of those talks, as well as the rapid escalation of tensions over the last two months, particularly between Israel and Iran, has provoked a flurry of proposals to revive the dormant diplomatic track, if only to calm a situation threatening to spin out of control.
Those proposals contain the same or similar recommendations to those included in the ICG report.
Early this month, for example, two former top-ranking U.S. diplomats, ICG Chair Thomas Pickering and William Luers, called in a "New York Times" op-ed for the IAEA and the U.N. Security Council to accept a Iranian nuclear programme with certain conditions attached.
The programme would include uranium enrichment to no more than five percent "in return for Iran's agreeing to grant inspectors full access to that programme to assure that Iran did not build a nuclear weapons".
Such a bargain - part of a broader initiative to build confidence and co-operation between the U.S. and Iran on a range of issues of common interest, including Afghanistan and Iraq - would result in the progressive reduction of U.N. sanctions against Iran once the inspection regime was in place.
That proposal was strongly endorsed by the president emeritus of the influential Council on Foreign Relations, Leslie Gelb.
"For sure, neither I nor anyone else knows whether Iran will accept this time. But I do know this: if we don't at least try the negotiating track, a war of untold uncertainties and dangers can come upon us," he wrote in the Daily Beast.
The same basic bargain was also endorsed by Seyed Hossein Mousavian, an Iranian diplomat currently at Princeton University, who served as spokesman for Iran's nuclear negotiating team, in a column for Bloomberg News in mid- February.
Iran should accept the maximum level of transparency with the IAEA, limit enrichment activities to less than five percent, and clear up its nuclear file with the IAEA, he argued, while the West should recognise Tehran's right to enrich and ease sections as part of a "step-by-step plan" proposed by Russia last year.
Perhaps the most intriguing contribution was from Dennis Ross, formerly Obama's chief Iran aide and long considered a hawk on the nuclear issue.
In a Times op-ed, he suggested that the administration was ready to accept a deal that combined intrusive inspections with limits on uranium enrichment and he cited Moscow's step-by-step approach favourably, although he did not address when and how existing sanctions could be eased.
Turkish lessons
The new ICG report notes that Turkey, which has ruled out military action against Iran, has "useful experience" in dealing with Iran's nuclear issue, primarily through its efforts with Brazil in 2010 to work out a confidence-building deal - much of which incorporated the basic elements of the Crisis Group proposal - acceptable to both the P5+1 and Iran.
While the deal was summarily rejected by the U.S. and the EU at the time, Ankara has since worked closely with the Obama administration on a range of major issues during the so-called Arab Spring.
Indeed, Obama has come to consider Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan one of his favourite foreign leaders.
Adding to Ankara's credibility has been its opposition to broad sanctions and its support for dialogue with Iran - positions similar to the views of Russia and China, the report noted.
"This is not to say that Turkey is amenable to a nuclear-armed Iran," the report said.
"But it is far more sympathetic to the view that the West cannot dictate who can have a nuclear capacity and who cannot; is less alarmist when it comes to the status of Iran's program; and believes that the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran is both distant and unsure."
Copyright © 2012 IPS-Inter Press Service
Jim Lobe has served as Washington DC correspondent and chief of the Washington bureau of Inter Press Service (IPS), an international news agency specializing in coverage of issues and events of interest to developing countries, from 1980 to 1985, and again from 1989 to the present.
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From http://www.fpif.org/articles/the_slide_toward_war ...
The Slide Toward War
By Conn Hallinan, February 23, 2012
Wars are fought because some people decide it is in their interests to fight them. World War I was not started over the Archduke Ferdinand's assassination, nor was it triggered by the alliance system. An "incident" may set the stage for war, but no one keeps shooting unless they think it's a good idea. The Great War started because the countries involved decided they would profit by it, delusional as that conclusion was.
It is useful to keep this idea in mind when trying to figure out whether the United States or Israel will go to war with Iran. In short, what are the interests of the protagonists, and are they important enough for those nations to take the fateful step into the chaos of battle?
Israel's Political Problem
According to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Iran is building nuclear weapons that pose an "existential" threat to Israel. But virtually no one believes this, including the bulk of Tel Aviv's military and intelligence communities. As former Israeli Chief of Staff Dan Halutz said recently, Iran "is not an existential" threat to Israel. There is no evidence that Iran is building a bomb, and all its facilities are currently under a 24-hour United Nations inspection regime.
So from a strictly security perspective, Israel has little reason to go to war with Iran. But Israel does have an interest in keeping the Middle East a fragmented place, riven by sectarian divisions and dominated by authoritarian governments and feudal monarchies. If there is one lesson Israel has learned from its former British overlords, it is "divide and conquer." Among its closest allies were the former dictatorships in Egypt and Tunisia. It now finds itself on the same page as the reactionary monarchies of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC): Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, and Oman.
Iran is not a military threat to Israel, but it is a political problem: Tel Aviv sees Tehran's fierce nationalism and independence from the West as a wildcard. Iran is also allied to Israel's major regional enemy, Syria-with which Israel is still officially at war-as well as Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, and the Shiite-dominated government in Iraq.
In the Netanyahu government's analysis, beating up on Iran would weaken Israel's local enemies at little cost. Tel Aviv's scenario features a shock-and-awe attack followed by a UN-mandated ceasefire, with a maximum of 500 Israeli casualties. The Iranians have little capacity to strike back, and if they did attack Israeli civilian centers or tried to close the Strait of Hormuz, it would bring in the Americans.
Of course, that rose-colored scenario is little more than wishful thinking. Iran is not likely to agree to a rapid ceasefire; it fought for eight long years against Iraq, and war has a habit of derailing the best-laid plans. A war between Israel and Iran would be long and bloody and might well spread to the entire region.
Iran's leaders dispense a lot of bombast about punishing Israel if it attacks, but in the short run there is not a lot they could do, particularly given the red lines Washington has drawn. The Iranian air force is obsolete, and the Israelis have the technology to blank out most of Tehran's radar and anti-aircraft sites. Iran could do little to stop Tel Aviv's mixture of air attacks, submarine-fired cruise missiles, and Jericho ballistic missiles.
The United States and Its Allies
For all its talk about how "all options are on the table," the Obama administration appears to be trying to avoid a war. But with the 2012 elections looming, could Washington remain on the sidelines? Polls indicate that Americans would not look with favor on a new Middle East war, but a united front of Republicans, neoconservatives, and the American Israeli Political Action Committee is pressing for a confrontation with Iran.
Israeli sources suggest that Netanyahu may calculate that an election-season Israeli attack might force the Obama administration to back a war and/or damage Obama's re-election chances. It is no secret that there is no love lost between the two leaders.
But the United States also has a dog in this fight. American hostility to Iran dates back to Tehran's seizure of its oil assets from Britain in 1951. The CIA helped overthrow the democratically elected Iranian government in 1953 and install the dictatorial Shah. The United States also backed Saddam Hussein's war on Iran, has had a longstanding antagonistic relationship with Syria, and will not talk with Hezbollah or Hamas. Tel Aviv's local enemies are Washington's local enemies.
When the Gulf monarchs formed the GCC in 1981, its primary purpose was to oppose Iranian influence in the Middle East. Using religious division as a wedge, the GCC has encouraged Sunni fundamentalists to fight Shiites in Lebanon, Iraq, and Syria, and largely blocked the spread of the "Arab Spring" to its own turf. When Shiites in Bahrain began protesting over a lack of democracy and low wages, the GCC invaded and crushed the demonstrations. The GCC does not see eye-to-eye with the United States and Israel on the Palestinians-although it is careful not to annoy Washington and Tel Aviv-but the GCC is on the same page as both capitals concerning Syria, Lebanon, and Iran.
The European Union (EU) has joined the sanctions, although France and Germany have explicitly rejected the use of force. Motivations in the EU range from France's desire to reclaim its former influence in Lebanon to Europe's need to keep its finger on the world's energy jugular.
Setting the Stage for Tragedy
In brief, it isn't all about oil and gas, but a whole lot of it is - and, as CounterPunch's Alexander Cockburn points out, oil companies would like to see production cut and prices rise. Another war in the Persian Gulf would accomplish both.
Iran will be the victim here, but elements within the regime will take advantage of any war to consolidate their power. An attack would unify the country around what is now a rather unpopular government. It would allow the Revolutionary Guard to crush its opposition and give cover to the Ahmadinejad government's drive to cut subsidies for transportation, housing, and food. A war would cement the power of the most reactionary elements of the current regime.
There are other actors in this drama-China, Russia, India, Turkey, and Pakistan for starters, none of whom supports a war-but whether they can influence events is an open question. In the end, Israel may just decide that its interests are best served by starting a war and that the United States will go along.
Or maybe this is all sound and fury signifying nothing?
Israel, the West, and the Gulf Cooperation Council share many of the same interests. Unfortunately, they also share the belief that force is an effective way to achieve one's goals.
On such illusions are tragedies built.
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From http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/02/24-9 ...
Published on Friday, February 24, 2012 by The Guardian/UK
Drumbeat of War with Iran Has a Familiar Ring
Impetus towards war with Iran can only be explained in terms of a western desire for Iraq-style regime change
by Simon Tisdall
The drumbeat of war with Iran grows steadily more intense. Each day brings more defiant rhetoric from Tehran, another failed UN nuclear inspection, reports of western military preparations, an assassination, a missile test, or a dire warning that, once again, the world is sliding towards catastrophe. If this all feels familiar, that's because it is. For Iran, read Iraq in the countdown to the 2003 invasion.
As with Iraq in 2003, the sense that war is inevitable is being encouraged by hardliners on all sides.
A decisive moment may arrive when Barack Obama meets Israel's prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, in Washington on 5 March. "The meeting will be definitive," said Ari Shavit in Haaretz. "If the US president wants to prevent a disaster, he must give Netanyahu iron-clad guarantees the US will stop Iran in any way necessary and at any price after the 2012 [US] elections. If Obama doesn't do this, he will obligate Netanyahu to act before the 2012 elections."
If accurate, this is not much of a choice. It suggests military action by the US or Israel or both is unavoidable, the only question being one of timing. Objectively speaking, this is not actually the position. All concerned still have choices. The case against Iran's nuclear programme is far from proven. It is widely agreed that limited military strikes will not work; a more extensive, longer-lasting campaign would be required. And Obama in particular, having striven to end the Iraq and Afghan wars, is loath to start another.
But as with Iraq in 2003, the sense that war is inevitable and unstoppable is being energetically encouraged by political hardliners and their media accomplices on all sides, producing a momentum that even the un-bellicose Obama may find hard to resist.
A recent analysis of US public opinion revealed deeply ambivalent attitudes on Iran, with the majority of Americans apparently favouring diplomatic solutions. Yet as Republican presidential candidates exploit the issue, as the Israelis lobby America, and as Iranian factions manoeuvre ahead of parliamentary polls, the likelihood grows that doves and doubters will again be either converted or ignored.
In some key respects, the Iran crisis is distinctly different from that over Iraq in 2002-03. As matters stand, similarly strident warmongering surrounding Iran is thus hard to understand or explain - unless the ultimate, unstated objective is not to curb Iran's nuclear programme but, as in Iraq, to overthrow its rulers.
Bogeymen
George Bush and Tony Blair claimed a moral imperative in toppling the "monstrous" dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. But the much vilified Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's president, is no Saddam, and neither is the country's bumbling Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Iranian regime is repressive and sporadically brutal, but so too are many developing world governments. Unlike Saddam's Ba'athists, it has significant democratic and ideological underpinning. As a bogeyman whose depredations might justify international intervention, Ahmadinejad is a flop.
Weapons of Mass Destruction
Saddam, notoriously, had no deployable or usable WMD, but his overthrow was primarily justified by the mistaken belief that he did. The present western consensus is that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons capability, but does not have an atomic bomb and is not currently trying to build one. Khamenei said this week that nuclear weapons were "useless and harmful" and that possessing them was sinful . Netanyahu's belief that Israel faces an imminent, existential threat is visceral rather than fact-based. Israel's refusal to acknowledge its own nuclear arsenal, let alone contemplate its reduction, further undermines the case for action.
Terrorism
Plenty of evidence exists that Iran supports, or has supported, armed militants, jihadis, and anti-Israeli and anti-western armed groups in Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, providing financial and political backing, arms and training. In this respect, its behaviour is more threatening to western interests than was that of Saddam's secular regime, no friend to Islamists. But limited or even protracted attacks on Iran's nuclear and/or military facilities would not end these links, unless there was a shift of political direction in Tehran.
Strategic power-games
Iraq was considered important for its strategic position at the heart of the Arab Middle East and its economic potential, especially its oil reserves. Similarly, there can be no doubt the US and Britain would like to see energy-rich Iran return to the western camp, as in the pre-revolution days of the Shah. Conversely, Iran's military is more powerful and more committed to the defence of the status quo, from which it benefits greatly, than was Iraq's. The potential disruption to oil supplies and western economies, not to mention the impact of asymmetric Iranian counter-attacks, makes a resort to war contingent on producing lasting dividends.
Political imperatives
In contrast to the splits over Iraq, the main western powers are united in their determination to bring Iran to heel. As well as Netanyahu, David Cameron, Nicolas Sarkozy and Barack Obama have all declared an Iranian bomb unacceptable. Their inflexibility thus makes war more rather than less likely should Iran refuse to back down. "Having made the case for urgency and concerted action, it would be difficult for Obama to tell the world 'never mind' and shift to a strategy that accepts Iranian membership in the nuclear club," said Michael Gerson in the Washington Post.
In short, the Iranian crisis differs from that over Iraq in 2003 in key respects. But the current impetus towards war can only be explained in terms of a western desire for Iraq-style regime change - because only regime change may achieve the de-nuclearisation the west insists upon.
© 2012 The Guardian
Simon Tisdall is an assistant editor of the Guardian and a foreign affairs columnist. He was previously a foreign leader writer for the paper and has also served as its foreign editor and its US editor, based in Washington DC. He was the Observer's foreign editor from 1996-98
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From http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/02/25-1 ...
Published on Saturday, February 25, 2012 by Common Dreams
Squeezing Iran on Nuclear Developments
by Arun Elhance
As of this moment no one knows for sure if the Iranian leadership really intends to build a nuclear weapon. What we do know is that Israel and the US are leading a well-orchestrated fight against Iran's nuclear development program. They have roped in some of their friends in Western Europe-mainly Britain and France--to support their own machinations in that regard by collectively imposing sanctions of all types against the leaders and citizens of Iran. It must be noted outright that all of the members of this "coalition of the willing" are themselves armed to the hilt with nuclear weapons and long-range missiles that can deliver those weapons of mass destruction anywhere on earth. Do they have any moral right to squeeze Iran to prevent it from developing and deploying similar weapons that they themselves keep developing and deploying with impunity, and with complete disregard for majority world-opinion that these weapons should be eliminated all together?
There are no permanent friends when it comes to international relations, only convenient bed-fellows, as a wise sage once said. The one you consider as a friend during the night can easily turn into a deadly enemy in the morning. So, let us look at Iran's genuine fears and security concerns vis-à-vis the so-called "civilized" and "peaceful" nations of Israel, the US and some other counties in Asia and Europe.
Iran shares a long and highly porous border with Afghanistan and Pakistan. There are remotely-controlled American "drones" in those countries killing the alleged Taliban leaders and fighters, and many more civilians besides. Who knows if the Americans have not stationed some drones, nukes and missiles in their many military bases in those countries to take care of Iran if and when the need arises? One thing we know for sure is that there are American ships and submarines floating everywhere around the world with nuclear weapons and missiles: cruise missiles being just a lesser category of the weapons of mass destruction that have already been used in Sudan and Afghanistan, among other places.
Pakistan is rapidly becoming a failed state with an arsenal of nuclear weapons. What happens if there is a regime change in the country? Will the new Pakistani rulers and their intelligence operators in the ISI and other spy agencies love Iran or nuke it when they feel like it?
Beyond Pakistan is India, another "peaceful" country with nuclear weapons as well as missiles that can deliver them over long distances: Iran is just next door really. Then there is China with its own atom and hydrogen bombs that can rein down on Iran any day if the Chinese communist leaders so decide. Let us also not forget North Korea with its arsenal of nukes and missiles. And, who is to say if there are not American nuclear weapons and missiles stationed in South Korea? The same goes for Japan even though the Americans and the Japanese political leaders and militaries deny this vehemently. For that matter, does Taiwan also host some nuclear weapons just in case China decided to take over the island some day as its leaders have repeatedly stated?
There is Russia also with its huge arsenal of nuclear weapons and missiles, with no love lost for its own Muslim population. And, it is still developing new nuclear weapons to match the stock-piles the US and her friends currently have and are still developing.
Finally, there is Israel. We all know, or should know by now, about its growing stock-pile of nuclear weapons and long-range missiles that can strike Iran at any time. Israelis are also alleged to be killing Iranian nuclear scientist over the last few years in Teheran and elsewhere against all norms of human rights and diplomacy. Israel is also a country that has been repeatedly imprisoning and allegedly torturing, at least psychologically, one of its own citizens, Mordechai Vannunu, since 1986 when he first revealed some details about Israel's nuclear weapons program to the international community. Are we really supposed to believe that the Israelis leaders are any saner or less ominous than the leaders of Iran. Can we be sure?
So let us seriously ponder if the leaders of Iran are crazy to be paranoid about the potential dangers they face from all the nuclear-crazies that surround them and can annihilate them from near or far at short notice? They must also be looking at how no established nuclear power in the world today has ever been really punished for developing and deploying these ominous weapons of mass destruction: India, Israel, North Korea and Pakistan are just the latest examples of this crazy state of affairs. If the leaders of the US, Britain, China, France, India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, and Russia can be trusted with managing their nuclear weapons in any kind of an enlightened way, there is no reason whatsoever not to extend the same courtesy to the much-maligned Iranian leaders.
Nothing short of an immediate global movement for Destroying All Nuclear Weapons Now (DAWN) can save us. That is the only sane choice we have in this nuclear-crazy world of ours. Iran is just the latest example of our collective madness.
Arun P. Elhance is a writer and social commentator living in Nairobi, Kenya
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Recall-- from http://consortiumnews.com/2011/12/31/cables-hold-clues-to-u-s-iran-mysteries ...
[pertinent excerpt here]
"Cables Hold Clues to U.S.-Iran Mysteries" by Robert Parry [12/31/11]
"By early 2010, both China and Russia had agreed not to exercise their UN Security Council vetoes to stop new sanctions against Iran. A January 2010 cable reported that a Russian official had "indicated Russia's willingness to move to the pressure track." Meanwhile, Iran's internal dissension had complicated an agreement on a low-enriched uranium swap. Though the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad embraced the idea in fall 2009, agreeing to give up about half of Iran's low-enriched uranium to get nuclear isotopes for medical research, some of his political opponents - favored by the West - attacked the proposed deal.
When Ahmadinejad's government sought some modifications on how the uranium would be transferred, the Obama administration dismissed any changes and the major U.S. news media jumped on Ahmadinejad for supposedly reneging on the original agreement. The leaked cables, however, shed new light on what was actually occurring. The Obama administration wasn't really committed to the swap idea as much as it was using the appearance of negotiations to set the stage for a new round of sanctions. The moves by Iran's internal opposition to torpedo the deal also look different in this context, as possibly a tactic to help the West isolate Ahmadinejad's government.
In spring 2010, Ahmadinejad agreed to another version of the uranium swap proposed by the leaders of Brazil and Turkey, with the apparent backing of President Obama. However, that arrangement came under fierce attack by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, considered a hawk on Iran, and was mocked by leading U.S. news outlets, including the New York Times and the Washington Post.
The ridicule of Brazil and Turkey - as bumbling understudies on the world stage - continued even after Brazil released Obama's private letter to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva encouraging Brazil and Turkey to work out the deal. Despite the letter's release, Obama didn't publicly defend the swap and instead joined in scuttling the deal. Much like during the run-up to war with Iraq, opinion leaders at the New York Times and Washington Post eagerly beat the drums for another confrontation."
ideas.
"1972"-- new documentary film/video/website project-- help make it happen!...
Hi all...
Do you remember 1972-- back when property and sales taxes hadn't skyrocketed yet to pay for tax cuts for the rich-- when Smith Elementary in Poughkeepsie and LaGrange Elementary were open-- what Dutchess was like with a manufacturing base (before NAFTA and IBM layoffs)-- when small businesses and hardware stores here before Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Lowes-- how many family farms there used to be in Dutchess County before being killed-- what it was like to be able to drink your tap water without wondering about MTBE-- what it was like before Dutchess air quality was rated "F" for three years in a row-- what Dutchess communities were like before the current foreclosure crisis-- what pensions used to be like before corporate America began attacking them-- how a full-time minimum wage job used to to lift a family of three out of poverty-- what it was like before we didn't incarcerate more than anywhere else in world-- what politics was like before large campaign contributions started dominating it-- how our economy was before Wall Street deregulated and Glass-Steagall ended-- what it used to be like before current epidemic of depression and mental illness-- and our county's Office of Consumer Affairs & Youth Bureau Project Return program?...
[see below-- these fifteen separate questions are documented below with extensive web references]
I hope you do-- because I'm launching one of the biggest projects I've ever launched in my two decades of community activism...
Just as Michael Moore has documented his hometown of Flint, Michigan-- I'm asking help from all of you to help me document the fifteen ways below that Dutchess has changed over the last 40 years...
For a new video/film/website project-- called "1972"!...
I'm primarily (for the time being now at least) interested in interviewing folks who were here in Dutchess County in 1972-- and care to comment on issues like ones listed here (and how things have changed)...
But it would also be valuable to interview folks of all ages on these issues too...
[point is-- it's not really radical to push for merely a return to how things were four decades ago-- is it?]
So-- if you have a cellphone that takes video....or a Flipcam...or a regular videocamera...and you'd like to interview yourself, your family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, relatives on these 15-- let me know!...
More importantly-- I also myself have access to a videocamera (most weekends-- including this one)-- so-- if you yourself have time to be interviewed on these questions this weekend-- or some other time...
Let me know!...
[...unless you want to roll over and play dead as things just get worse and worse on these 15 issues...]
Note-- yes-- before documentary finished, looking to build Facebook page and website with videos!...
[Dutchess County serving as de facto microcosm for 20th c.d/NYS-- similar changes across the U.S.]
Pass it on!...
Joel
845-444-0599/876-2488
joeltyner@earthlink.net
http://www.JoelforCongress.org
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel (220+ on board)
p.s. Aside from helping to video/film interviews-- or being the subject of an interview yourself-- there is another important way you can help with "1972"-- namely this-- research on all these issues below!...
[below is just a cursory (for now) collection of weblinks-- we need much more documentation for each]
p.p.s. Methinks perhaps 'tis long past time for us to pull together to truly redefine progress in Dutchess:
http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/what-happy-families-know/why-the-kings-of-bhutan-ride-bicycles
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genuine_progress_indicator ; http://www.EcologicalFootprint.org ;
http://www.SustainableMeasures.com ; http://www.SustainabilityIndicators.org ]
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Fifteen Interview Questions for "1972" film/video/website project (help needed; can't do this alone!):
[note, too-- just curious, all-- need your feedback/ideas-- what did I leave out here below?...let me know!]
1. Do you remember when property and sales taxes hadn't skyrocketed to pay for tax cuts for the rich?
[ http://www.fiscalpolicy.org/taxhistory2.htm ]
2. Do you remember when Smith Elementary in Poughkeepsie & LaGrange Elementary were open?
[ http://hudsonvalley.ynn.com/content/top_stories/535155/school-leaders-say-it-is-worse/ ;
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20100907/NEWS02/9070336/Students-parents-teachers-cope-LaGrange-Elementary-School-closure ]
3. Do you remember what Dutchess was like with a manufacturing base-- before NAFTA & IBM layoffs?
[ http://harveyflad.wordpress.com/speaking-engagements/ ;
http://www.hudsonvalleyruins.org/rinaldi/PAGES/poughkeepsie.htm ;
http://westfaironline.com/2011/14831-made-in-poughkeepsie/ ;
http://library.marist.edu/archives/shermanCollection/shermanCollection.xml ;
http://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/17/nyregion/ibm-weighs-possibility-of-job-layoffs.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm ; http://action.citizen.org/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=3307 ;
http://www.endicottalliance.org/stories.htm ; http://www.allianceibm.org ;
http://jah.oxfordjournals.org/content/97/1/227.2.extract ]
4. Do you remember small businesses & hardware stores here before Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Lowes?
[ http://www.homechannelnews.com/article/lowes-home-depot-look-new-store-formats ;
http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-05-04/local/29523684_1_small-businesses-david-neumark-city-stores ; http://www.momandpopnyc.com/fact%20sheets/smallbusiness.doc ]
5. Do you remember how many family farms there used to be in Dutchess County before being killed?
[ http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/08/nyregion/08towns.html ;
http://www.dutchessland.org/aboutdlc-history.htm ; http://www.petitiononline.com/SaveLand ;
http://landuse.law.pace.edu/landuse/documents/commentary/Reg2/DisappearingFarmland.DOC ]
6. Do you remember what it was like to be able to drink your tap water without wondering about MTBE?
[ http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2011/04/why-are-caldwell-steinhaus-gop-still-so.html ; http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2012/02/my-letter-to-molinaro-20-ways-to-make.html ]
7. Do you remember what it was like before Dutchess air quality was rated "F" for three years in a row?
[ http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/2011/April/27/HV_air_ALA-27Apr11.html ;
http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2011/04/dutchess-air-quality-rated-f-third-in.html ]
8. Do you remember what Dutchess communities were like before the current foreclosure crisis?
[currently-- 496 preforeclosure listings, 428 auction listings, 1208 bank-owned listings:
http://www.foreclosures.com/new-york/dutchess-county/ ]
9. Do you remember what pensions used to be like before corporate America began attacking them?
[ http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/sa/seniors/progserv/PensionReview/Documents/pension_review/appe.htm ;
http://research.upjohn.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1086&context=up_bookchapters&sei-redir=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fsearch%3Fhl%3Den%26source%3Dhp%26q%3D1970s%2Bpensions%26gbv%3D2%26oq%3D1970s%2Bpensions%26aq%3Df%26aqi%3D%26aql%3D%26gs_sm%3D3%26gs_upl%3D0l0l1l158l0l0l0l0l0l0l0l0ll0l0#search=%221970s%20pensions%22 ]
10. Do you remember how a full-time minimum wage job used to to lift a family of three out of poverty?
[ http://www.thenation.com/blog/165773/week-poverty-american-commitment-children ;
http://www.dol.gov/whd/state/stateMinWageHis.htm ;
http://www.nationofchange.org/occupy-minimum-wage-1328288588 ;
http://www.epi.org/publication/inflation-linked-minimum-wage-increases-8-states/ ;
http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/anth484/minwage.html ]
11. Do you remember what it was like before we didn't incarcerate more than anywhere else in world?
[ http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2012/01/30/120130crat_atlarge_gopnik ;
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/p/prisons_and_prisoners/index.html ]
12. Do you remember what politics was like before large campaign contributions started dominating it?
[ http://www.answers.com/topic/political-action-committee ;
http://baselinescenario.com/2010/09/13/the-importance-of-the-1970s/ ]
13. Do you remember how our economy was before Wall Street deregulated & Glass-Steagall ended?
[ http://www.democracynow.org/2012/2/24/occupy_the_sec_former_wall_street ;
http://open.salon.com/blog/hgold/2012/02/20/forget_dodd-frank_reinstate_glass_steagall ;
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/FDRagain ]
14. Do you remember what it used to be like before current epidemic of depression and mental illness?
[ http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-12-depression-treatment-decade-psychotherapy-declines.html ;
http://isepp.wordpress.com/2012/01/12/psychologist-bruce-levine-surviving-americas-depression-epidemic/ ; http://www.ehow.com/way_5627919_much-depression-rates-increased_.html ]
15. Do you remember our county's Office of Consumer Affairs & Youth Bureau Project Return program?
[ http://www.co.dutchess.ny.us/CountyGov/Departments/CountyExecutive/16302.htm ;
http://www.co.dutchess.ny.us/CountyGov/Departments/Comptroller/ybaudit.pdf ]
Do you remember 1972-- back when property and sales taxes hadn't skyrocketed yet to pay for tax cuts for the rich-- when Smith Elementary in Poughkeepsie and LaGrange Elementary were open-- what Dutchess was like with a manufacturing base (before NAFTA and IBM layoffs)-- when small businesses and hardware stores here before Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Lowes-- how many family farms there used to be in Dutchess County before being killed-- what it was like to be able to drink your tap water without wondering about MTBE-- what it was like before Dutchess air quality was rated "F" for three years in a row-- what Dutchess communities were like before the current foreclosure crisis-- what pensions used to be like before corporate America began attacking them-- how a full-time minimum wage job used to to lift a family of three out of poverty-- what it was like before we didn't incarcerate more than anywhere else in world-- what politics was like before large campaign contributions started dominating it-- how our economy was before Wall Street deregulated and Glass-Steagall ended-- what it used to be like before current epidemic of depression and mental illness-- and our county's Office of Consumer Affairs & Youth Bureau Project Return program?...
[see below-- these fifteen separate questions are documented below with extensive web references]
I hope you do-- because I'm launching one of the biggest projects I've ever launched in my two decades of community activism...
Just as Michael Moore has documented his hometown of Flint, Michigan-- I'm asking help from all of you to help me document the fifteen ways below that Dutchess has changed over the last 40 years...
For a new video/film/website project-- called "1972"!...
I'm primarily (for the time being now at least) interested in interviewing folks who were here in Dutchess County in 1972-- and care to comment on issues like ones listed here (and how things have changed)...
But it would also be valuable to interview folks of all ages on these issues too...
[point is-- it's not really radical to push for merely a return to how things were four decades ago-- is it?]
So-- if you have a cellphone that takes video....or a Flipcam...or a regular videocamera...and you'd like to interview yourself, your family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, relatives on these 15-- let me know!...
More importantly-- I also myself have access to a videocamera (most weekends-- including this one)-- so-- if you yourself have time to be interviewed on these questions this weekend-- or some other time...
Let me know!...
[...unless you want to roll over and play dead as things just get worse and worse on these 15 issues...]
Note-- yes-- before documentary finished, looking to build Facebook page and website with videos!...
[Dutchess County serving as de facto microcosm for 20th c.d/NYS-- similar changes across the U.S.]
Pass it on!...
Joel
845-444-0599/876-2488
joeltyner@earthlink.net
http://www.JoelforCongress.org
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel (220+ on board)
p.s. Aside from helping to video/film interviews-- or being the subject of an interview yourself-- there is another important way you can help with "1972"-- namely this-- research on all these issues below!...
[below is just a cursory (for now) collection of weblinks-- we need much more documentation for each]
p.p.s. Methinks perhaps 'tis long past time for us to pull together to truly redefine progress in Dutchess:
http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/what-happy-families-know/why-the-kings-of-bhutan-ride-bicycles
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genuine_progress_indicator ; http://www.EcologicalFootprint.org ;
http://www.SustainableMeasures.com ; http://www.SustainabilityIndicators.org ]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Fifteen Interview Questions for "1972" film/video/website project (help needed; can't do this alone!):
[note, too-- just curious, all-- need your feedback/ideas-- what did I leave out here below?...let me know!]
1. Do you remember when property and sales taxes hadn't skyrocketed to pay for tax cuts for the rich?
[ http://www.fiscalpolicy.org/taxhistory2.htm ]
2. Do you remember when Smith Elementary in Poughkeepsie & LaGrange Elementary were open?
[ http://hudsonvalley.ynn.com/content/top_stories/535155/school-leaders-say-it-is-worse/ ;
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20100907/NEWS02/9070336/Students-parents-teachers-cope-LaGrange-Elementary-School-closure ]
3. Do you remember what Dutchess was like with a manufacturing base-- before NAFTA & IBM layoffs?
[ http://harveyflad.wordpress.com/speaking-engagements/ ;
http://www.hudsonvalleyruins.org/rinaldi/PAGES/poughkeepsie.htm ;
http://westfaironline.com/2011/14831-made-in-poughkeepsie/ ;
http://library.marist.edu/archives/shermanCollection/shermanCollection.xml ;
http://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/17/nyregion/ibm-weighs-possibility-of-job-layoffs.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm ; http://action.citizen.org/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=3307 ;
http://www.endicottalliance.org/stories.htm ; http://www.allianceibm.org ;
http://jah.oxfordjournals.org/content/97/1/227.2.extract ]
4. Do you remember small businesses & hardware stores here before Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Lowes?
[ http://www.homechannelnews.com/article/lowes-home-depot-look-new-store-formats ;
http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-05-04/local/29523684_1_small-businesses-david-neumark-city-stores ; http://www.momandpopnyc.com/fact%20sheets/smallbusiness.doc ]
5. Do you remember how many family farms there used to be in Dutchess County before being killed?
[ http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/08/nyregion/08towns.html ;
http://www.dutchessland.org/aboutdlc-history.htm ; http://www.petitiononline.com/SaveLand ;
http://landuse.law.pace.edu/landuse/documents/commentary/Reg2/DisappearingFarmland.DOC ]
6. Do you remember what it was like to be able to drink your tap water without wondering about MTBE?
[ http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2011/04/why-are-caldwell-steinhaus-gop-still-so.html ; http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2012/02/my-letter-to-molinaro-20-ways-to-make.html ]
7. Do you remember what it was like before Dutchess air quality was rated "F" for three years in a row?
[ http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/2011/April/27/HV_air_ALA-27Apr11.html ;
http://dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2011/04/dutchess-air-quality-rated-f-third-in.html ]
8. Do you remember what Dutchess communities were like before the current foreclosure crisis?
[currently-- 496 preforeclosure listings, 428 auction listings, 1208 bank-owned listings:
http://www.foreclosures.com/new-york/dutchess-county/ ]
9. Do you remember what pensions used to be like before corporate America began attacking them?
[ http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/sa/seniors/progserv/PensionReview/Documents/pension_review/appe.htm ;
http://research.upjohn.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1086&context=up_bookchapters&sei-redir=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fsearch%3Fhl%3Den%26source%3Dhp%26q%3D1970s%2Bpensions%26gbv%3D2%26oq%3D1970s%2Bpensions%26aq%3Df%26aqi%3D%26aql%3D%26gs_sm%3D3%26gs_upl%3D0l0l1l158l0l0l0l0l0l0l0l0ll0l0#search=%221970s%20pensions%22 ]
10. Do you remember how a full-time minimum wage job used to to lift a family of three out of poverty?
[ http://www.thenation.com/blog/165773/week-poverty-american-commitment-children ;
http://www.dol.gov/whd/state/stateMinWageHis.htm ;
http://www.nationofchange.org/occupy-minimum-wage-1328288588 ;
http://www.epi.org/publication/inflation-linked-minimum-wage-increases-8-states/ ;
http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/anth484/minwage.html ]
11. Do you remember what it was like before we didn't incarcerate more than anywhere else in world?
[ http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2012/01/30/120130crat_atlarge_gopnik ;
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/p/prisons_and_prisoners/index.html ]
12. Do you remember what politics was like before large campaign contributions started dominating it?
[ http://www.answers.com/topic/political-action-committee ;
http://baselinescenario.com/2010/09/13/the-importance-of-the-1970s/ ]
13. Do you remember how our economy was before Wall Street deregulated & Glass-Steagall ended?
[ http://www.democracynow.org/2012/2/24/occupy_the_sec_former_wall_street ;
http://open.salon.com/blog/hgold/2012/02/20/forget_dodd-frank_reinstate_glass_steagall ;
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/FDRagain ]
14. Do you remember what it used to be like before current epidemic of depression and mental illness?
[ http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-12-depression-treatment-decade-psychotherapy-declines.html ;
http://isepp.wordpress.com/2012/01/12/psychologist-bruce-levine-surviving-americas-depression-epidemic/ ; http://www.ehow.com/way_5627919_much-depression-rates-increased_.html ]
15. Do you remember our county's Office of Consumer Affairs & Youth Bureau Project Return program?
[ http://www.co.dutchess.ny.us/CountyGov/Departments/CountyExecutive/16302.htm ;
http://www.co.dutchess.ny.us/CountyGov/Departments/Comptroller/ybaudit.pdf ]
AFL-CIO, NYSUT, CSEA, PEF, AFSCME all for Better Choice Budget-- local forums with Ron Deutsch Tuesday!...
[note re: below: email countylegislators@co.dutchess.ny.us on this-- Tyner/Jeter-Jackson/MacAvery/Amparo/Doxsey resolution for Co. Leg. pushing Better Choice Budget recommendations for NYS will be on Mar. mtg. agenda; and call Cuomo and state legislators TODAY on all this-- toll-free at 877-255-9417; before too late!...Joel]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Yesterday the Poughkeepsie Journal printed another of my op-ed pieces (second one this year!):
"Demand Fairness in New York's Budget"
11:10 PM, Feb. 22, 2012 |
Written by Joel Tyner
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20120223/OPINION04/302230037/Demand-fairness-New-York-s-budget
Joel Tyner is a Dutchess County legislator for District 11, Clinton/Rhinebeck. He is also a Democratic candidate for the 20th Congressional District.
Resources
See DutchessDemocracy.blogspot.com; JoelforCongress.org - call us at 845-444-0599 to get involved. Also see http://www.ABetterChoiceforNY.org
Here are 10 reasons to come out to our "A Better Choice Budget for New York" forum with New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness Executive Director Ron Deutsch, Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at Rhinebeck Town Hall at 80 East Market St. Deutsch will also be speaking the same evening at 7:30 p.m. at the Christ Episcopal Church in Poughkeepsie on 20 Carroll St.
1. The Better Choice Budget Coalition sensibly calls for a return to the full millionaires tax and closing one billion dollars' worth of corporate tax loopholes annually - coalition members include the New York State Alliance for Retired Americans, Statewide Senior Action Council of NYS, NYS Coalition for the Aging, New York State Library Association, Interfaith Alliance of NYS, Interfaith Impact of NYS, Alliance for Quality Education, Environmental Advocates of NY, Center for Independence of the Disabled of New York, NYS AFL-CIO, CSEA, NYSUT, PEF, AFSCME, New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services, New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness, NYS Community Action Association, NYS Episcopal Public Policy Network, New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness, Community Voices Heard, Fiscal Policy Institute, and the Hunger Action Network of New York State.
2. Fact: New York's millionaires tax used to bring in $4.6 billion in revenue annually; because of December's tax deal, it now only brings in $1.9 billion in revenue - creating a $2.7 billion hole in the state budget ( http://www.FiscalPolicy.org ).
3. Meanwhile, over the last two years alone $2.7 billion has been cut from state aid to schools - so Hyde Park Elementary School may close, LaGrange and Smith Elementary schools already closed, and the City of Poughkeepsie has cut back to half-day kindergarten - and Gov. Andrew Cuomo has proposed to add only $805 million in state aid to schools this year while proposing to cut $99 million from early childhood intervention services over the next five years.
4. Sixty-three percent of school districts increased their class size because of these budget cuts, 36 percent cut summer schools, 22 percent cut art classes, 14 percent cut music classes, and 17 percent cut honors or advanced placement courses ( http://www.AQENY.org ).
5. The richest 1 percent of New York state households increased their share of all income statewide from 10 percent in 1980 to 35 percent in 2007, and the 67 billionaires who call New York home have a combined net worth over $234.9 billion ( http://www.99PercentNY.org ).
6. Recent Marist/YNN, Siena, Quinnipiac and Hart research polls all show the vast majority of New Yorkers strongly supported maintaining the full millionaires tax.
7. As the Poughkeepsie Journal reported ("Seniors pay more under EPIC rules" Feb. 4), because of $36 million cut in state funding last year for the state's Elderly Prescription Insurance Coverage (EPIC) program, "starting in January EPIC participants have had to pay between $3 and $20 for a prescription, depending on the overall cost of the medication; now New York doesn't subsidize participants until they reach the coverage gap of $2,930, also known as the 'doughnut hole' - until that time, seniors pay 25 percent of the cost of the drug."
8. The State University of New York's funding has been cut by $1.4 billion over the last four years - over $300 million last year alone. SUNY's total operating budget has already been reduced by over 35 percent over the last five years ( http://www.SaveOurSUNY.org ).
9. As Comptroller Tom DiNapoli has recently stated, "defined contribution plans are not adequate for retirement security for public or private workers; study after study has shown that defined benefit plans cost less in the long run than 401(k) style plans and perform better" - more workers should have defined-benefit pensions - we shouldn't kill what's left of the middle class by attacking public employee pensions.
10. Finally, large multinational corporations that do business in New York should pay taxes; some of the worst corporate tax dodgers are Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, Travelers Insurance, Verizon and Goldman Sachs. We need to level the playing field so that small businesses are not left holding the bag while big businesses are allowed to avail themselves of billions of dollars in corporate tax subsidies and loopholes - loopholes should be closed for corporate tax evaders, real estate partnership abuses should end, and New York needs to "expand the nonresident personal income tax to include income received from hedge fund management fees," as Gov. David Paterson included in his 2010 Executive Budget proposal.
################################################
[recall below sent out to this list Friday]
Hi all...
Thanks much to my Co. Leg. colleagues Barbara Jeter-Jackson, Alison MacAvery, Francena Amparo, and Jim Doxsey...
To their credit, Barbara, Alison, Francena and Jim have all agreed to co-sponsor my resolution below for our March Co. Leg. mtg. for Better Choice Budget for NYS!...(see http://www.ABetterChoiceforNY.org )...
Help get more county legislators on board-- email countylegislators@co.dutchess.ny.us today!...
[thx also to some of you out there who have already emailed letters to leg.'s on this; keep pressure on!]
[recall: Cablevision, some Occ.-Pok. and HPE folks came out our Valentine's Day rally last Tuesday:
http://www.dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2012/01/valentines-day-rally-have-heart-nys-at.html ]
And-- just as importantly-- call Cuomo and state legislators on all this now too-- at (877) 255-9417...
[there will be even less funding in state budget for our schools and services if we don't raise ruckus now]
Joel
845-444-0599/876-2488
joeltyner@earthlink.net
http://www.JoelforCongress.org
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel
p.s. Kudos as well to Conservative Co. Leg. Jim Doxsey for his work for years now to stop New York State from giving literally $16 billion annually to Wall Street in tax breaks re: stock transfer tax rebate...
[see: http://doxseydistrict1.com/?p=639 ; http://doxseydistrict1.com/?m=201103 ;
http://mhvperspective.com/?Return=T;lquery=Author+regexp+'James+R.+Doxsey'+order+by+ID+desc ;
http://doxseydistrict1.com/?cat=bwmbbkppup&paged=3 ]
[join 150+ signed to my http://www.petitiononline.com/stocktax effort if you agree with Jim/me on this!]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[here below-- text of resolution for Better Choice Budget-- email countylegislators@co.dutchess.ny.us!]
Urging the New York State Legislature to Enact Better Choice Budget Coalition Recommendations to Fund Dutchess County Services, Schools, Health Care, and the DEC to Avoid County Property or Sales Tax Hikes
WHEREAS, our County Executive's State of the County Address informed us that, "the 2012 budget appropriates $24.3 million of the year-end audited general fund balance of $29.9 million to pay for the core services our residents expect; this application of fund balance, coupled with the additional drawdown of $3 million during 2011 and other potential projected revenue shortfalls or unforeseen emergencies, could leave county government with no un-appropriated fund balance when the 2011 books are closed," and
[see: http://www.co.dutchess.ny.us/CountyGov/Departments/CountyExecutive/21111.htm ]
WHEREAS, New York's millionaires tax used to bring in $4.6 billion in revenue annually; because of December's tax deal, it now only brings in $1.9 billion in revenue, creating a $2.7 billion hole in the state budget; the richest one percent of NYS households increased their share of all income statewide from 10 percent in 1980 to 35 percent in 2007, the 67 billionaires who call New York home have a combined net worth over $234.9 billion, and recent Marist/YNN, Siena, Quinnipiac, and Hart research polls all show the vast majority of New Yorkers strongly supported maintaining, extending, and expanding the full state-level millionaires tax, and
[see: http://www.FiscalPolicy.org ; http://www.99PercentNY.org ;
http://www.capitaltonight.com/2011/02/groups-band-together-to-push-millionaires-tax/ ; http://www.hungeractionnys.org/Poeple%20SOS%20release%202011.pdf ;
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=940073&category=state ;
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/financial/2010/08/16/100816ta_talk_surowiecki ]
WHEREAS, over the last two years $2.7 billion has been cut from state aid to schools in New York; as a result, Hyde Park Elementary School may close, LaGrange and Smith Elementary Schools already closed, and the City of Poughkeepsie has cut back to half-day kindergarten; Governor Cuomo has proposed to only add $805 million in additional state aid to schools this year, while cutting $99 million from early childhood intervention services over the next five years, and
[see: http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Details-of-Cuomo-s-budget-proposal-2593571.php ]
WHEREAS, because of $36 million cut in state funding to 300,000 New York seniors over the last year for the state's Elderly Prescription Insurance Coverage (EPIC) program, starting in January EPIC participants have had to pay between $3 and $20 for a prescription, depending on the overall cost of the medication; now New York doesn't subsidize participants until they reach the coverage gap of $2,930, also known as the "doughnut hole"; until that time, seniors pay 25 percent of the cost of the drug, and
https://www.change.org/petitions/governor-cuomo-and-the-new-york-state-legislature-fully-fund-epic-elderly-prescription-insurance-coverage-program
WHEREAS, as Comptroller DiNapoli has recently stated, "defined contribution plans are not adequate for retirement security for public or private workers; study after study has shown that defined benefit plans cost less in the long run than 401k style plans and perform better; it is unconscionable that so many New Yorkers and Americans do not have a secure retirement, often times because corporations have stripped retirement plans for short-term fiscal gains," and
[see: http://www.osc.state.ny.us/press/releases/feb12/021312.htm ;
http://blog.timesunion.com/capitol/archives/107821/dinapoli-warns-against-effort-to-dismantle-pensions/ ]
WHEREAS, last year state spending on health care was cut by $2.8 billion, and the State University of New York has been cut by $1.4 billion over the last four years; SUNY's total operating budget has already been reduced by over 35% over the last five years, tuition is scheduled to rise by $300 a year every year for the next five years; our state's Department of Environmental Conservation was funded at $1.5 billion in 2009-2010; Governor Cuomo has proposed less than $1.1 billion in funding for the DEC for 2012-2013; there were 4050 DEC staff in 1989; less than 3000 DEC staff are proposed in Governor Cuomo's budget for next year, and
[see: http://eany.org/images/Reports/budgetbrief12-13.pdf ;
http://www.SaveOurSUNY.org ; http://www.nysenate.gov/files/Jackie%20Haynes.pdf ;
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/08/student-loan-debt-bankruptcy_n_1263348.html ;
http://online.wsj.com/article/APf6aaf05fc11c46e7a78621d594e11cb1.html ;
http://www.projectonstudentdebt.org http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/12/education/12college.html ]
WHEREAS, the Better Choice Budget Coalition calls for a return to the full millionaires tax and one billion dollars worth of corporate tax loopholes annually to be closed; coalition members include the New York State Alliance for Retired Americans, Statewide Senior Action Council of NYS, NYS Coalition for the Aging, New York State Library Association, Interfaith Alliance of NYS, Interfaith Impact of NYS, Alliance for Quality Education, Environmental Advocates of NY, Center for Independence of the Disabled of New York, NYS AFL-CIO, CSEA, NYSUT, PEF, AFSCME, New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services, New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness, NYS Community Action Association, NYS Episcopal Public Policy Network, New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness, Community Voices Heard, Fiscal Policy Institute, and the Hunger Action Network of New York State, and therefore be it
[see: http://www.ABetterChoiceforNY.org ]
RESOLVED, that the Dutchess County Legislature hereby calls on the New York State Legislature to pass and Governor Andrew Cuomo to sign into law the Better Choice Budget coalition's common-sense revenue recommendations, to avoid property/sales tax hikes, avoid any more attacks on public employees and their pensions, and to restore full funding for crucial services here in our county, our schools, health care, our universities, our state's Departments of Environmental Conservation, Agriculture and Markets, and Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation, and be if further
RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be sent to Governor Andrew Cuomo, state Senators Greg Ball and Stephen Saland, and Assemblymembers Kevin Cahill, Stephen Katz, and Joel Miller.
--
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Yesterday the Poughkeepsie Journal printed another of my op-ed pieces (second one this year!):
"Demand Fairness in New York's Budget"
11:10 PM, Feb. 22, 2012 |
Written by Joel Tyner
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20120223/OPINION04/302230037/Demand-fairness-New-York-s-budget
Joel Tyner is a Dutchess County legislator for District 11, Clinton/Rhinebeck. He is also a Democratic candidate for the 20th Congressional District.
Resources
See DutchessDemocracy.blogspot.com; JoelforCongress.org - call us at 845-444-0599 to get involved. Also see http://www.ABetterChoiceforNY.org
Here are 10 reasons to come out to our "A Better Choice Budget for New York" forum with New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness Executive Director Ron Deutsch, Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at Rhinebeck Town Hall at 80 East Market St. Deutsch will also be speaking the same evening at 7:30 p.m. at the Christ Episcopal Church in Poughkeepsie on 20 Carroll St.
1. The Better Choice Budget Coalition sensibly calls for a return to the full millionaires tax and closing one billion dollars' worth of corporate tax loopholes annually - coalition members include the New York State Alliance for Retired Americans, Statewide Senior Action Council of NYS, NYS Coalition for the Aging, New York State Library Association, Interfaith Alliance of NYS, Interfaith Impact of NYS, Alliance for Quality Education, Environmental Advocates of NY, Center for Independence of the Disabled of New York, NYS AFL-CIO, CSEA, NYSUT, PEF, AFSCME, New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services, New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness, NYS Community Action Association, NYS Episcopal Public Policy Network, New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness, Community Voices Heard, Fiscal Policy Institute, and the Hunger Action Network of New York State.
2. Fact: New York's millionaires tax used to bring in $4.6 billion in revenue annually; because of December's tax deal, it now only brings in $1.9 billion in revenue - creating a $2.7 billion hole in the state budget ( http://www.FiscalPolicy.org ).
3. Meanwhile, over the last two years alone $2.7 billion has been cut from state aid to schools - so Hyde Park Elementary School may close, LaGrange and Smith Elementary schools already closed, and the City of Poughkeepsie has cut back to half-day kindergarten - and Gov. Andrew Cuomo has proposed to add only $805 million in state aid to schools this year while proposing to cut $99 million from early childhood intervention services over the next five years.
4. Sixty-three percent of school districts increased their class size because of these budget cuts, 36 percent cut summer schools, 22 percent cut art classes, 14 percent cut music classes, and 17 percent cut honors or advanced placement courses ( http://www.AQENY.org ).
5. The richest 1 percent of New York state households increased their share of all income statewide from 10 percent in 1980 to 35 percent in 2007, and the 67 billionaires who call New York home have a combined net worth over $234.9 billion ( http://www.99PercentNY.org ).
6. Recent Marist/YNN, Siena, Quinnipiac and Hart research polls all show the vast majority of New Yorkers strongly supported maintaining the full millionaires tax.
7. As the Poughkeepsie Journal reported ("Seniors pay more under EPIC rules" Feb. 4), because of $36 million cut in state funding last year for the state's Elderly Prescription Insurance Coverage (EPIC) program, "starting in January EPIC participants have had to pay between $3 and $20 for a prescription, depending on the overall cost of the medication; now New York doesn't subsidize participants until they reach the coverage gap of $2,930, also known as the 'doughnut hole' - until that time, seniors pay 25 percent of the cost of the drug."
8. The State University of New York's funding has been cut by $1.4 billion over the last four years - over $300 million last year alone. SUNY's total operating budget has already been reduced by over 35 percent over the last five years ( http://www.SaveOurSUNY.org ).
9. As Comptroller Tom DiNapoli has recently stated, "defined contribution plans are not adequate for retirement security for public or private workers; study after study has shown that defined benefit plans cost less in the long run than 401(k) style plans and perform better" - more workers should have defined-benefit pensions - we shouldn't kill what's left of the middle class by attacking public employee pensions.
10. Finally, large multinational corporations that do business in New York should pay taxes; some of the worst corporate tax dodgers are Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, Travelers Insurance, Verizon and Goldman Sachs. We need to level the playing field so that small businesses are not left holding the bag while big businesses are allowed to avail themselves of billions of dollars in corporate tax subsidies and loopholes - loopholes should be closed for corporate tax evaders, real estate partnership abuses should end, and New York needs to "expand the nonresident personal income tax to include income received from hedge fund management fees," as Gov. David Paterson included in his 2010 Executive Budget proposal.
################################################
[recall below sent out to this list Friday]
Hi all...
Thanks much to my Co. Leg. colleagues Barbara Jeter-Jackson, Alison MacAvery, Francena Amparo, and Jim Doxsey...
To their credit, Barbara, Alison, Francena and Jim have all agreed to co-sponsor my resolution below for our March Co. Leg. mtg. for Better Choice Budget for NYS!...(see http://www.ABetterChoiceforNY.org )...
Help get more county legislators on board-- email countylegislators@co.dutchess.ny.us today!...
[thx also to some of you out there who have already emailed letters to leg.'s on this; keep pressure on!]
[recall: Cablevision, some Occ.-Pok. and HPE folks came out our Valentine's Day rally last Tuesday:
http://www.dutchessdemocracy.blogspot.com/2012/01/valentines-day-rally-have-heart-nys-at.html ]
And-- just as importantly-- call Cuomo and state legislators on all this now too-- at (877) 255-9417...
[there will be even less funding in state budget for our schools and services if we don't raise ruckus now]
Joel
845-444-0599/876-2488
joeltyner@earthlink.net
http://www.JoelforCongress.org
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Joel
p.s. Kudos as well to Conservative Co. Leg. Jim Doxsey for his work for years now to stop New York State from giving literally $16 billion annually to Wall Street in tax breaks re: stock transfer tax rebate...
[see: http://doxseydistrict1.com/?p=639 ; http://doxseydistrict1.com/?m=201103 ;
http://mhvperspective.com/?Return=T;lquery=Author+regexp+'James+R.+Doxsey'+order+by+ID+desc ;
http://doxseydistrict1.com/?cat=bwmbbkppup&paged=3 ]
[join 150+ signed to my http://www.petitiononline.com/stocktax effort if you agree with Jim/me on this!]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[here below-- text of resolution for Better Choice Budget-- email countylegislators@co.dutchess.ny.us!]
Urging the New York State Legislature to Enact Better Choice Budget Coalition Recommendations to Fund Dutchess County Services, Schools, Health Care, and the DEC to Avoid County Property or Sales Tax Hikes
WHEREAS, our County Executive's State of the County Address informed us that, "the 2012 budget appropriates $24.3 million of the year-end audited general fund balance of $29.9 million to pay for the core services our residents expect; this application of fund balance, coupled with the additional drawdown of $3 million during 2011 and other potential projected revenue shortfalls or unforeseen emergencies, could leave county government with no un-appropriated fund balance when the 2011 books are closed," and
[see: http://www.co.dutchess.ny.us/CountyGov/Departments/CountyExecutive/21111.htm ]
WHEREAS, New York's millionaires tax used to bring in $4.6 billion in revenue annually; because of December's tax deal, it now only brings in $1.9 billion in revenue, creating a $2.7 billion hole in the state budget; the richest one percent of NYS households increased their share of all income statewide from 10 percent in 1980 to 35 percent in 2007, the 67 billionaires who call New York home have a combined net worth over $234.9 billion, and recent Marist/YNN, Siena, Quinnipiac, and Hart research polls all show the vast majority of New Yorkers strongly supported maintaining, extending, and expanding the full state-level millionaires tax, and
[see: http://www.FiscalPolicy.org ; http://www.99PercentNY.org ;
http://www.capitaltonight.com/2011/02/groups-band-together-to-push-millionaires-tax/ ; http://www.hungeractionnys.org/Poeple%20SOS%20release%202011.pdf ;
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=940073&category=state ;
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/financial/2010/08/16/100816ta_talk_surowiecki ]
WHEREAS, over the last two years $2.7 billion has been cut from state aid to schools in New York; as a result, Hyde Park Elementary School may close, LaGrange and Smith Elementary Schools already closed, and the City of Poughkeepsie has cut back to half-day kindergarten; Governor Cuomo has proposed to only add $805 million in additional state aid to schools this year, while cutting $99 million from early childhood intervention services over the next five years, and
[see: http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Details-of-Cuomo-s-budget-proposal-2593571.php ]
WHEREAS, because of $36 million cut in state funding to 300,000 New York seniors over the last year for the state's Elderly Prescription Insurance Coverage (EPIC) program, starting in January EPIC participants have had to pay between $3 and $20 for a prescription, depending on the overall cost of the medication; now New York doesn't subsidize participants until they reach the coverage gap of $2,930, also known as the "doughnut hole"; until that time, seniors pay 25 percent of the cost of the drug, and
https://www.change.org/petitions/governor-cuomo-and-the-new-york-state-legislature-fully-fund-epic-elderly-prescription-insurance-coverage-program
WHEREAS, as Comptroller DiNapoli has recently stated, "defined contribution plans are not adequate for retirement security for public or private workers; study after study has shown that defined benefit plans cost less in the long run than 401k style plans and perform better; it is unconscionable that so many New Yorkers and Americans do not have a secure retirement, often times because corporations have stripped retirement plans for short-term fiscal gains," and
[see: http://www.osc.state.ny.us/press/releases/feb12/021312.htm ;
http://blog.timesunion.com/capitol/archives/107821/dinapoli-warns-against-effort-to-dismantle-pensions/ ]
WHEREAS, last year state spending on health care was cut by $2.8 billion, and the State University of New York has been cut by $1.4 billion over the last four years; SUNY's total operating budget has already been reduced by over 35% over the last five years, tuition is scheduled to rise by $300 a year every year for the next five years; our state's Department of Environmental Conservation was funded at $1.5 billion in 2009-2010; Governor Cuomo has proposed less than $1.1 billion in funding for the DEC for 2012-2013; there were 4050 DEC staff in 1989; less than 3000 DEC staff are proposed in Governor Cuomo's budget for next year, and
[see: http://eany.org/images/Reports/budgetbrief12-13.pdf ;
http://www.SaveOurSUNY.org ; http://www.nysenate.gov/files/Jackie%20Haynes.pdf ;
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/08/student-loan-debt-bankruptcy_n_1263348.html ;
http://online.wsj.com/article/APf6aaf05fc11c46e7a78621d594e11cb1.html ;
http://www.projectonstudentdebt.org http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/12/education/12college.html ]
WHEREAS, the Better Choice Budget Coalition calls for a return to the full millionaires tax and one billion dollars worth of corporate tax loopholes annually to be closed; coalition members include the New York State Alliance for Retired Americans, Statewide Senior Action Council of NYS, NYS Coalition for the Aging, New York State Library Association, Interfaith Alliance of NYS, Interfaith Impact of NYS, Alliance for Quality Education, Environmental Advocates of NY, Center for Independence of the Disabled of New York, NYS AFL-CIO, CSEA, NYSUT, PEF, AFSCME, New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services, New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness, NYS Community Action Association, NYS Episcopal Public Policy Network, New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness, Community Voices Heard, Fiscal Policy Institute, and the Hunger Action Network of New York State, and therefore be it
[see: http://www.ABetterChoiceforNY.org ]
RESOLVED, that the Dutchess County Legislature hereby calls on the New York State Legislature to pass and Governor Andrew Cuomo to sign into law the Better Choice Budget coalition's common-sense revenue recommendations, to avoid property/sales tax hikes, avoid any more attacks on public employees and their pensions, and to restore full funding for crucial services here in our county, our schools, health care, our universities, our state's Departments of Environmental Conservation, Agriculture and Markets, and Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation, and be if further
RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be sent to Governor Andrew Cuomo, state Senators Greg Ball and Stephen Saland, and Assemblymembers Kevin Cahill, Stephen Katz, and Joel Miller.
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