Stop Paying the Rich
• Budget Cuts Are Not Solutions!
• NY Governor Paterson Demands $5.2 Billion More in Cuts
• New York State Unemployment Up by 56,000
Third Party Election Work
• New Orleans: Vote Malik Rahim, Defender of Rights
• Cindy for Congress: We Never Once Sold Out Our Solid Principles
and Issues-Based Campaign
• Nader: What We Accomplished Together
Stop Paying the Rich!
Budget Cuts Are Not Solutions!
In the midst of deepening economic crisis, where it is clear that there will be yet thousands more layoffs and greatly increased poverty and homelessness, Governors across the country are announcing major cuts to social programs, including those for food and children, as well as cutting funding for education and healthcare. All of this is occurring at a time when the necessity for such programs is being felt by more and more families. We provide below three articles providing information and views on planned cuts to the New York State budget, as a representative example of what is occurring nationwide in states like California, Massachusetts, Ohio and others. The reporting is provided by Buffalo Forum, local publication of USMLO.
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New York Governor David Paterson, faced with a deepening economic crsis statewide and nationiwde, is insisting on sticking with the status quo of an economic system that pays the rich and robs the poor. Consistent with this, he is demanding $5.2 billion more in budget cuts to social programs, while increasing payments to the rich. He wants $2 billion more in cuts now and another $3.2 billion next year, making more than $7 billion in cuts since August. At the same time, debt payments to the Wall Street bankers are to increase by 50 percent, while war funding continues.
New York State, and Buffalo in particular, have faced year after year of budget cuts. Wage freezes, mass layoffs, wrecking of schools and healthcare have been imposed. Government workers finally won a small 3 percent raise and now the Governor is demanding that it be denied. Tuition is to increase while cuts are made that will impact the quality of education, from university on down.
Experience has shown that budget cuts are not solutions and only serve to deepen the crisis. Conditions of work worsen, more people are laid off, more families require social services like food programs, housing assistance and healthcare. Yet these are precisely the areas under attack.
Paterson has presided over billions of dollars in cuts to social programs. He claims, “We have no other option but to make these tough but necessary choices.” He says “shared sacrifice” is the only way to “fiscal stability.” We will take him at his word and call on him to demand that the rich sacrifice. He can begin by freezing debt service payments to the Wall Street bankers, which are currently about $5 billion for the state. This would eliminate the so-called deficit for this year. Then he can demand that New York state debt of about $53 billion be cancelled. The government has secured the large majority of this debt illegally, as it has not been approved by a vote of the people. So canceling it has a legal basis as well as being the “tough but necessary choice” to make.
We say the status quo of more cuts is no solution. We say instead of an anti-social offensive to pay the rich there must be a pro-social program to increase funding for social programs. This is a stand that favors the interests of the people and would contribute to strengthening the economy.
New York can play a leading role and provide an example for other states to follow by refusing to pay war taxes. To date, the state has paid $58.9 billion in war taxes for the Iraq war (according to the National Priorities Project). This amount could provide 681,713 elementary school teachers for one year, or 10,854,125 people with health care for one year, or 9,604,661 scholarships for university students for one year. The Iraq and Afghanistan wars are illegal. New Yorkers have repeatedly demanded an end to the wars now and an end to all war funding. Let everyone demand that Paterson represent that stand and stop using tax dollars for war. This too is a “tough but necessary choice” that can be done. As Governor, he is in a position to simply stop handing over our tax dollars to the federal government.
Governor Paterson refuses to take such action as he insists that the status quo of an economy that breeds crisis and war and cannot meet the rights of the people must be maintained. And he does this knowing the massive devastation the cuts demanded will have, not only on the workers and families immediately impacted but on society as a whole. President George W. Bush demands the same. As politicians of the rich, Paterson and Bush are stuck in the old, in an economy that has shown itself a failure when it comes to meeting the needs of the people here and worldwide.
Workers face no such necessity to maintain the status quo. On the contrary, their responsibility to humanity is to bring forward the new, a new economy and new society, organized to guarantee the rights of all. Canceling the debt, refusing to fund war and taking the stand to Stop Paying the Rich are important steps in this direction of strengthening the new. We urge all to together take the stand to Stop Paying the Rich! Increase Funding for Social Programs! and demand that the government do the same.
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Education and Healthcare Targeted
NY Governor Paterson Demands
$5.2 Billion More in Cuts
New York Governor David Paterson is demanding yet another round of budget cuts, this time for $5.2 billion. These cuts, targeting education and healthcare, follow $2 billion already imposed in August. The governor insisted on convening a second “special session” of the legislature on November 18, at a cost of $100,000 to the public. Despite his efforts, backed by representatives of the monopolies like the Buffalo Niagara Partnership and Unshackle Upstate, no agreement could be reached. The governor and legislature are not expected to meet again until after January 1. Paterson remains adamant on getting his proposals passed. It is unclear if he will attempt to make cuts to state workers, using executive authority, before the legislature reconvenes.
Paterson’s demands were met with broad protest in Albany, with many cities, including Buffalo, sending busloads of people. Students, women, workers, and youth from across the state rallied against the cuts. Advocates for retirees, healthcare, and libraries joined in. All stood to say, No Cuts! The call to Stop Paying the Rich! is also being heard as the people organize together.
One of the main forces praising Paterson for his “bold actions” is the Buffalo Niagara Partnership, representing the main monopolies in Western New York. The partnership is part of a larger group, Unshackle Upstate that represents monopolies across the state. In a November 12, 2008 press release, Unshackle Upstate said that it “strongly supports Governor Paterson’s proposals.” It “thanks the governor for his leadership and his continued willingness to take aggressive action.”
Education
Paterson wants to cut K-12 funding by $585 million this year and $844 million next year, leaving many schools already in desperate need of funds in even worse shape. Paterson also wants cuts in “education-related areas outside of School Aid.” A November 12, 2008 press release from the governor’s office calls for “reduced funding for grants awarded by the NYS Council on the Arts by $7 million and reduced funding for Bundy Aid to private colleges and universities by $2 million.” Paterson’s plan would also reduce library funding by $20 million.
Under the governor’s proposal, higher education will see a cut of $115 million in 2008-09, and $233 million in 2009-10. Paterson also wants to increase undergraduate tuition at the state and city university systems by $600 a year. This means that the State University of New York (SUNY) tuition would increase from $4,350 to $4,950 annually and City University of New York (CUNY) would increase from $4,000 to $4,600 annually. Spring 2009 tuition will increase by $300, with the full $600 annual increase effective in the fall of 2009. Paterson is also seeking to reduce per-student “base aid” to community colleges by an average of 10 percent, from $2,675 to an average of $2,405.
If these attacks go through, thousands of students will be forced to leave school, attend part-time instead of full-time, or postpone their education altogether.
Healthcare
The governor wants to cut Medicaid and other healthcare by $572 million this year and $1.2 billion next year. According to the November 12 press release from the governor’s office, “Major actions include reducing reimbursement rates and eliminating trend factor increases across all sectors, recouping Early Intervention overpayments from New York City, using unspent Graduate Medical Education (GME) funds for financial plan relief, and discontinuing funding for several HCRA programs.” HCRA stands for Health Care Reform Act. According to the NYS Department of Health website HCRA governs “hospital reimbursement methodologies and targets funding for a multitude of health care initiatives.”
In addition, “assessments levied” on what the governor calls the insurance industry “will be increased,” which means hospitals and healthcare centers will pass these increases on to patients and families in need of care.
The Hospital Association of New York State estimates hospitals would face cuts of $772 million over the next two years, which means a reduction in care and layoffs. For local hospitals, the budget cuts would likely mean layoffs and cutting educational programs, free services, and preventive screenings, said Diane Ashley, president of the hospital lobbying group Rochester Regional Healthcare Advocates, which represents 18 hospitals, including Strong, Highland, Rochester General and Unity. Nursing homes across the state will also lose million of dollars in funding under Paterson’s proposals. Approximately 2.5 million New Yorkers do not have health insurance and many that do are drowning in healthcare bills.
Workers
New York State is already expected to lose more than 150,000 jobs during 2008-10. Hundreds of additional jobs may be eliminated if Paterson’s proposals for the state’s workforce are enacted. His plan would cut funding for the state’s workforce by $304 million over the next two years. Specifically, Paterson wants to “reduce personnel costs” by trampling on collective bargaining agreements and contracts. Paterson is demanding that the unions open their contracts, a step which invariably leads to more concessions. He wants to refuse to honor the 3 percent, 2009-10 salary increase previously negotiated with several unions. He also wants to delay salary payments for five-days worth of work for the current fiscal year until the given employee leaves state service.
Paterson is also targeting retirees, “requiring new State employee retirees to pay for a greater portion of their health care costs; requiring State employees and retirees to contribute to the Medicare Part B premiums; and rescinding a vacation exchange program for Management/Confidential employees.”
Human Services
Over the next two years almost $100 million in cuts for human services are planned. Major funding cuts include “partially reducing a cost-of-living adjustment for human service providers from 3.2 percent to 2.2 percent; reducing funding for the Neighborhood Preservation Program and Rural Preservation Program; delaying the phase-in of the ‘Bridges to Health’ program; and eliminating a $3.0 million operating subsidy for the New York State Housing Authority (NYCHA), which has a $2.8 billion operating budget.”
Paterson also wants to close six youth facilities across the state at a time when opportunities for the youth are disappearing rapidly. The facilities are part of the Office of Children and Family Services’ (OCFS) juvenile justice system.
Environment and Economy
During the August 2008 “special session” of the legislature, funding for most new executive and legislative programs was cut across-the-board by 50 percent and 6 percent, respectively. Paterson now wants new legislative programs to be cut by 50 percent of remaining spending, commensurate with the cuts enacted for new executive programs. If enacted, cuts will total $424 million for 2008-09 and $514 million for the following year.
Governor Paterson is also working to expand the current 5-cent deposit on beer and soda containers to water and other non-carbonated beverages, capture all unclaimed deposits, and use that funding to offset other financial support to the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF). Additionally, funding for the EPF would be reduced by $50 million, which would be transferred to the General Fund.
Other cuts include: local tourism matching grants ($1.5 million), JOBS Now ($1.5 million), the Focus Research Center at Albany Nanotech/RPI ($2.6 million), Technology Transfer ($1 million), and Faculty Development programs ($1 million). It is also recommended that the Centers for Applied Research and Technology program be allowed to expire at the end of 2008, meaning a cut of $900,000.
Local Governments
Under Paterson’s plan, local governments can expect to see cuts totaling $134 million in 2008-09 and $110 million the following year. These cuts eliminate $41 million in additional Aid and Incentives for Municipalities (AIM) funding for New York City that were added in the 2008-09 Enacted Budget.
For municipalities outside of New York City, Paterson wants to maintain 2009-10 AIM payments at 2008-09 levels, eliminating a previously scheduled $61 million increase. The governor is also proposing to reduce 2009-10 VLT (Video Lottery Terminals) Impact Aid for 17 municipalities by 50 percent compared to 2008-09 levels and limit eligibility for this program to municipalities that already participate. These cuts are all occurring at a time when demands on local governments for food, job and healthcare programs are increasing.
Paterson is expected to introduce his 2009-2010 budget to the Legislature on December 16. He wants the legislature to pass next year’s budget by early March, a month ahead of schedule. The current state budget runs until March 31.
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New York State Unemployment Up by 56,000
As of July 2008, the latest data available, half a million workers in New York State were unemployed. From the first half of 2007 to the first half of 2008, the number of New York workers without jobs jumped by 56,000. In 25 counties, the increase in unemployment is more than 20 percent. The year-over-year increase in new claims for unemployment insurance running 20 to 25 percent.
The New York State unemployment rate was 5.2 percent in July, up from a low-point of 4.3 percent in 2006. Higher still is the rate of underemployment (8.1 percent in 2007, the latest data available), which includes people who are so discouraged that they have stopped looking for work, and workers who would like to work full time but can only find a part-time job.
Unemployment rates for African American and Hispanic New York workers are roughly double the rates for whites. In 2007, when the overall New York State unemployment rate averaged 4.6 percent for the year, unemployment among white workers was 3.5 percent, while for Hispanic workers it was 6.5 percent and for black workers it was 7.5 percent. African American and Hispanic workers account for well more than 25 percent of the New York State workforce.
Unemployment is a major concern in most regions of the state. Twenty-five New York counties experienced 20 percent-plus increases in their unemployment rolls in the first half of this year compared to a year ago. By mid-August, first-time unemployment claims were up by 25 percent in New York City compared to last year. All of the counties containing major upstate cities, like Erie County, have seen unemployment grow by at least 18 percent.
The existing benefits are far too low. The maximum weekly unemployment insurance benefit level has remained unchanged at $405 since 2000, which means its inflation-adjusted value has declined by 25 percent. The average benefit was just $302 in the first quarter of 2008, 21 percent lower than in Massachusetts and 17 percent below New Jersey’s average. New York also has a much lower percentage of unemployed workers who receive benefits compared to neighboring states. Part-time workers — who make up 21 percent of New York’s workforce — are often prevented from securing benefits, as are low-wage workers.
The state’s unemployment insurance fund is also significantly underfunded. New York ranks 49th out of 50 states in the U.S. Department of Labor’s index of the solvency of state insurance funds (only Michigan is lower). The government provides a very low ceiling for the wages that employers must pay for unemployment taxes, guaranteeing that the fund remains without sufficient funds. New York’s taxable wage base for unemployment insurance is just $8,500, well below the national average, about half the level of Connecticut, and only a third the level of New Jersey. While government continues massive handouts to the rich, many workers do not receive their unemployment benefits, or only receive partial benefits.
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Third Party Election Work
Vote Malik Rahim, Defender of Rights
Malik Rahim, longtime New Orleans organizer and staunch defender of the rights of Katrina survivors is running for Congress in Louisiana’s special election December 6. In appealing for support, he writes: “I am seeking election to the United States House of Representatives on December 6. Four days after Hurricane Katrina and two days before founding Common Ground I made this decision to run for Congress. This decision was made due to the lack of government response to Katrina.
“This is a seat not just for residents of the New Orleans area but a peoples’ seat for all those who stand for environmental peace and justice. This goal can only be reached with your support.
“I will provide concrete alternatives to the wars being waged against our communities at home and to the wars continuing abroad. Our communities deserve no less. I will continue to advocate for the rights to safe, affordable housing, the right to universal healthcare, and demand investments in a comprehensive storm protection system and wetland restoration. I would initiate repeal of the so-called Patriot Act, author legislation to remove FEMA from the Department of Homeland Security, demand an end to the costly and senseless incarceration of nonviolent offenders, and advocate for full funding for our schools and the right to education for all.
“I urge you to get active with our campaign. Canvass your neighborhood and tell your friends and family. If you are out of town, we need additional volunteers on Election Day and the week leading up to the election. You can phone bank remotely from home or promote the campaign online.
“In closing, I want to remind you that I will work tirelessly for the people of District 2. But even if you are not in my Congressional District, your cause is in my heart; you will have not only a committed advocate, but an office to work out of on the Hill.”
Malik Rahim was born and raised in New Orleans’ Algiers neighborhood and has worked as an organizer for decades, focusing on housing rights and defending prisoners. He did not leave New Orleans during Katrina and instead organized to defend those who remained and to fight for the rights of all Katrina survivors forced out of New Orleans. He withstood vicious police attacks and organized to unite all in defending New Orleans.
He founded and continues to build a number of organizations including:
• Co-founded Common Ground Health Clinic in September 2005 with Sharon Johnson. After hurricane Katrina, it was the first health clinic in the city of New Orleans. The clinic enlisted emergency medics to run a first aid station and help develop a permanent free health clinic. It continues to offer free healthcare.
• Co-founded Common Ground Relief in September 2005, with Scott Crow and Brandon Darby. Since Hurricane Katrina, nearly 13,000 volunteers have gutted more than 3000 homes in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans.
Overall, Malik reports “We have been able to serve well over 150,000 people in direct services and maybe another 400,000 in indirect services. We started three health clinics, and helped start another three health clinics. We have challenged and have broken the stereotype of racial divide. Thousands of our volunteers are white youth working in African-American and minority communities.” Malik continues to denounce the government racism and crimes before, during and after Katrina.
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We Never Once Sold Out Our Solid Principles
and Issues-Based Campaign
I kept on saying to my supporters, staff, interns, volunteers and myself, that no matter what happened on November 4 that we could hold our heads up high and be very proud of our campaign. Until yesterday, I was not sure that what I said would be true, but I feel an incredible sense of peace and pride in our accomplishments. There were so many victories over the last year that the American paradigm of “winner take all” just does not fit.
We moved into San Francisco a little over a year ago with less than nothing. We used savings and credit cards to open our office and sometimes to keep it open. We transformed a former “sex shop” to a fully functioning and vibrant campaign office. Our “natural base” [the anti-war forces] never materialized, so we had to build a foundation in less than a few months.
In August, we gained ballot access as only the 6th independent campaign in California history to do so. Our platform based on humane economics was in place long before the recent collapses and resultant bailouts. Our labor platform was hailed all over the world, while unions here in SF supported the corporate “rescuer” Nancy Pelosi.
Cindy for Congress never once sold out our solid principles and issues-based campaign and would never sell out the voters of San Francisco like Nancy Pelosi has. Nancy Pelosi never ran a campaign here, but she did run from my campaign and our demands to debate. Yet we persevered and did so amazingly well after a near total media black out and several attempts at political intimidation.
We got to the end of this stage with a barrel full of integrity and a boatload of dedication and love. Dozens of activists came from all over the country to be here to help us spread our progressive, peace based message and thousands donated to help keep our campaign afloat.
We have moved right through November 4 because this is a movement for peace and against corporate control of our political system. Movements cannot stop: we must keep moving.
The way we do elections in this country must be reformed because clearly the campaigns with the most money won all over the country. If we never level the playing field to allow the people’s voice and message to be heard, the tyranny of incumbency and the obscene amount of money spent on these circuses will continue and true progressive change will never happen. Long voting lines and the fact that Election Day is not a holiday or on Sunday give a clear disadvantage to the working class that needs campaigns like mine and elected officials like me to improve their lives.
We will still have to fight the establishment with everything we have and this campaign has proven that we do have a lot of clout if we are persistent and devoted. […]
Cindy for Congress got almost twice as many votes as anyone who has ever run against Pelosi since she eked out a primary victory in 1987 over Harry Britt, who was also the more progressive candidate. We raised a decent amount of money and are honored by the support we have gotten from all over this nation.
This is not the time to give up and give in to the politics of blinding amounts of money shrouded in “hope.”
On November 5, we still have millions of people sleeping on our streets and without jobs and health care. We still have our troops mired in two unconscionable wars that Barack Obama has not promised to end. Our economy is still on a very precarious footing and oil, the lifeblood of the elite, is running out. There are many people in this world, and yes, even this nation that are food insecure and the next resource wars may be over water.
Despite all this, I slept like a baby last night for the first time in months. I feel like a new person today and am holding my head up high. I dedicated my campaign to my son, Casey, and his comrades who have tragically fallen and to the people of Iraq and Afghanistan that our government have devastated. We need to continue to make their deaths count for something noble. I dedicate the next steps to them, also.
There are still many “fights” and “races” ahead. Take a few days to celebrate or mourn and reflect and then jump back in with both feet into the struggle for peace and justice.
(Cindy Sheehan ran as an independent in California’s Eighth District, home to San Francisco. Democratic House leader Nancy Pelosi was her opponent, along with a Republican candidate. She secured 31,445 votes or about 17 percent of the vote. This was almost double the vote for the Republican candidate. — VOR Ed. Note)
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Nader: What We Accomplished Together
To staff, volunteers, supporters, donors, and voters
[…] What follows is a summary of what we achieved together through the Presidential campaign of 2008, despite being obstructed by the Democrats’ and Republicans’ ballot access hurdles and traps, despite being excluded from speaking to tens of millions of Americans through the presidential debates (polls repeatedly showed the people wanted us — by name — included), and despite being willfully ignored by the national television and national newspaper/magazine media. These achievements represent persistence, stamina, and the willpower to penetrate this political bigotry so as to give choice to those voters who knew we were running. […]
Achievements of Nader/Gonzalez 2008
Moving a Progressive Agenda Forward in the Electoral Arena.
Nurturing anew the survival seeds and sprouts for a functioning democracy, so that someday the fruits of this campaign will be traced back to the political pioneers of 2008 who carried forward the torch of conscience and justice high across the land.
We followed the model of Presidential candidates Eugene Debs and Norman Thomas; if they had not run within the electoral arena many people would not know key elements of the progressive agenda. As Thomas Paine once said, “a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of right.”
In 2008, without third party and independent candidates there would have been no opposition to the bailout, no discussion of single-payer, no opposition to nuclear power plants, no support of living wage, no peace advocacy over blow-back militarism, no advocacy of electoral reforms, no crackdown on corporate crimes, etc.
Civil Liberties for Independent and Third Party Candidates
Working to break down unfair ballot access laws that shred the rights of minor party candidates to run for office.
Example: Victory in Arizona, declaring in-state petitioning law unconstitutional at the 9th circuit court of appeals.
Example: Victory in Ohio case at the 6th circuit, declaring Secretary of State Blackwell was wrong to throw Nader/Camejo off the ballot in 2004 and that the Ohio law requiring in-state petition circulators was unconstitutional.
Bringing New People into the Political Process
We will be more than 700,000 votes in 2008 as absentee ballots and write-ins are counted over the coming days and weeks. Many of those voters would have stayed home and not voted if Nader/Gonzalez had not been on the ballot. Sixty percent of Nader/Gonzalez donors have never contributed to any other political candidate before. Thousands of citizens developed skills and many will run for office where they live in coming years.
Documenting the Multi-faceted Oppressiveness of the Two-Party Controlled Dictatorship of Our Country
The exclusion from the debates and the media blackout helped deflate the myth of a competitive electoral democracy. Exposing myths is the first step toward reforms.
International Solidarity
The Nader/Gonzalez campaign helped show the rest of the world that there are voices inside the Presidential campaign who speak vigorously to the United States becoming a humanitarian superpower that knows how to wage peace, advance justice and enhance the security of all peoples, as envisioned by the UN Declaration of Human Rights.
Ballot Access & Voting Success
Bronze Medal: Nader/Gonzalez got more votes than any other Presidential third party or independent candidate.
45 State Ballot Lines and the District of Columbia: We got on more state ballots than in any previous Ralph Nader Presidential campaign (including the state of Idaho for the first time). Nader/Gonzalez qualified as write-in candidates in Georgia, Indiana, North Carolina and Texas.
The Nader/Gonzalez campaign was nominated by the Independent Parties of Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland and New Mexico. Nader/Gonzalez was also nominated by California’s Peace and Freedom Party, Florida’s Ecology Party, Michigan’s Natural Law Party, and Oregon’s Peace Party.
Party formation was more active than in 2004, and Nader/Gonzalez achieved several notable ballot access accomplishments:
Independent Party of Connecticut, Hawai’i, Maryland, New Mexico and the Peace Party of Oregon all obtained ballot status and will be able to field candidates in 2010 without petitioning.
Some Memorable Campaign Accomplishments
Our Vice Presidential Candidate Matt Gonzalez was the first Mexican-American VP Candidate in American History.
We participated in three third-party Presidential and Vice Presidential Debates: Thursday, October 23, in Washington, D.C. between Ralph Nader and Chuck Baldwin and October 30, in Cleveland, Ohio between Ralph Nader, Bob Barr and Chuck Baldwin — both covered by CSPAN.
Sunday, November 2, Vice Presidential Debate in Las Vegas, Nevada which included Libertarian Party VP candidate, Wayne Allyn Root, Constitution Party VP candidate, Darrell Castle, and Independent Ralph Nader running mate, Matt Gonzalez.
Wall Street Rally: Thursday, October 16, 2008. Thousands of people gathered in front of the New York Stock Exchange to join Ralph Nader and Matt Gonzalez in protesting the bailout of Wall Street and to demand a crackdown on corporate crime.
Massachusetts Marathon: Saturday, October 25, 2008. Dozens of organizers helped Ralph Nader set the Guinness Book of World Records for most campaign speeches in a single 24-hour period. We made 21 campaign stops in 21 different Massachusetts towns in a single day.