Sunday, December 18, 2011
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Hartmann: Meet a Real Democratic Socialist
Hartmann: Meet a Real Democratic Socialist
DSA National Director Maria Svart on Thom Hartmann's Big Picture TV Show
Monday, November 7, 2011
Let’s Talk Democratic Socialism, Already -- In These Times
DSA National Director Mara Svart article in In These Times discussing Democratic Socialism and DSA
The War Against the Poor | NationofChange
The War Against the Poor | NationofChange
DSA Honorary Chair Frances Fox Piven on poverty in the U.S.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
DSA Supports Occupy Wall Street
DSA has created a "DSA Occupy Wall Street" Webpage to highlight the work of DSA members in Occupy protests across the country..
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Monday, October 24, 2011
Friday, October 14, 2011
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
How Unequal We Are: The Top 5 Facts You Should Know About The Wealthiest One Percent Of Americans
How Unequal We Are: The Top 5 Facts You Should Know About The Wealthiest One Percent Of Americans: pAs the ongoing occupation of Wall Street by hundreds of protesters enters its third week — and as protests spread to other cities such as Boston and Los Angeles — demonstrators have endorsed a new slogan: “We are the 99 percent.” This slogan refers an economic struggle between 99 percent of Americans and the richest [...]/p
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Friday, September 9, 2011
Monday, September 5, 2011
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Since 2009, 88 Percent Of Income Growth Went To Corporate Profits, Just One Percent Went To Wages
Since 2009, 88 Percent Of Income Growth Went To Corporate Profits, Just One Percent Went To Wages: pAfter the longest recession since WWII, many Americans are still struggling while S&P 500 corporations are sitting on $800 billion in cash and making massive profits. Now, economists from Northeastern University have released a study that finds our sluggish economic recovery has almost solely benefited corporations. According to the study: “Between the second quarter of [...]/p
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Monday, August 29, 2011
U of Memphis YDS Chapter Forming
We are forming a Young Democratic Socialists (YDS) Chapter at the University of Memphis. If you are a student at U of M, join fellow democratic socialists at the U of M YDS!
For more information
Young Democratic Socialists is the Youth Section of DSA
Monday, August 22, 2011
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Poverty: A Call To Conscience
On Friday, Aug. 12, DSA Honorary Chair and Tavis Smiley brought their "Poverty Tour: A Call to Conscience" to St. Andrew AME Church in Memphis. Beginning at a Native American reservation in Wisconsin, the two have been traveling across the country to bring attention to the growing poverty afflicting the unemployed and the underemployed during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
Tavis Smiley spoke about the failures of politicians, of both parties, to address the causes and consequences of poverty. He singled out President Obama for failing to use the mandate he was given to address the growing poverty among all races, particularly African-Americans. Smily noted that the President has failed to even mention poverty in any of his State of the Union speeches, and that it was the President, not the Republicans, who offered to make Social Security cuts party of the negotiations over raising the national debt ceiling.
Cornel West emphasized that Obama needs to be encouraged to stand up the the corporate elites and to push a more progressive agenda to redistribute wealth to alleviate the suffering of the poor. Noting the criticism that some in the African-American community have leveled against he and Smiley for attacking President Obama, West sought to encourage the black community to help Obama become a great president by pushing him to make the welfare of the working class and the working poor his priority, not Wall Street and the corporate rich.
Both emphasized that their intention was to help Obama get reelected by reminding him of his campaign promises and pushing him to be bolder and to take the moral high ground to focus on poverty and the struggles of the working class of all races.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Cornel West Poverty Tour Coming to Memphis Aug. 12!
DSA Honory Chair Cornel West and Tavis Smiley bring their Poverty Tour to Memphis Friday Aug. 12th, 7-9 PM at Saint Andrew AME Church
867 South Parkway East
Memphis TN.
Dr. Cornel West Website
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Monday, August 8, 2011
"Nickel & Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America”: Barbara Ehrenreich on the Job Crisis & Wealth Gap
DSA Honorary Chair Barbara Ehrenreich discussing the jobs crisis amd wealth inequality on Democracy Now
"Nickel & Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America”: Barbara Ehrenreich on the Job Crisis & Wealth Gap
"Nickel & Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America”: Barbara Ehrenreich on the Job Crisis & Wealth Gap
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Why the American People Are Angry | Common Dreams
Democratic Socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders explains the budget cuts being promoted by BOTH parties:
Why the American People Are Angry | Common Dreams
Why the American People Are Angry | Common Dreams
Friday, July 22, 2011
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Dear Mr. President: The Rich Must Sacrifice
Democratic Socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders challenges President Obama and Democrats to oppose the GOP budget cuts and demand "Shared Sacrifice" from the Corporate Rich to solve the economic mess they have created!
Dear Mr. Pressident: The Transcript
Sign Bernie's Letter to President Obama
Dear Mr. Pressident: The Transcript
Sign Bernie's Letter to President Obama
Sunday, June 19, 2011
The Truth About the U.S. Economy
Robert Reich explains the current economic crisis in 2 mintues
Here's more:
Robert Reich, The Truth About the U.S. Economy
For American Workers, No Economic Recovery
AFL-CIO: U.S. Workers' Share of National Income Nosedives
Unemployment Now Worse than Great Depression
CEO Pay and Growing Income Gap-Not Spreading the Wealth
Here's more:
Robert Reich, The Truth About the U.S. Economy
For American Workers, No Economic Recovery
AFL-CIO: U.S. Workers' Share of National Income Nosedives
Unemployment Now Worse than Great Depression
CEO Pay and Growing Income Gap-Not Spreading the Wealth
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Sunday, June 12, 2011
"Justice For All" Rally Seeks to Unify Progressive Causes - WREG
"Justice For All" Rally Seeks to Unify Progressive Causes - WREG
A coalition of progressives groups representative women, labor, immigrants, and the LGBT community, organized a rally Saturday in Memphis to protest recent actions by the conservative Republican Tennessee legislature to restrict the collective bargaining rights of public employees, cut funding for Planned Parenthood, and to rollback and prohibit local laws to prohibit discrimination against gays and lesbians and LGBT people.
In addition to anti-gay and anti-labor legislation at the state level, the Memphis City government is considering proposals to privatize sanitation services and destroy the local AFSCME labor union that Dr. MLK came to Memphis to march with to protest low wages prior to his assassination.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
NYT: Socialists Still Going (DSA, SPUSA, CPUSA)
The New York Times published this article Monday on the growing interest in socialism and the three main socialist groups in NY: DSA, SPUSA & CPUSA
Workers of the World, Please See our Website
And don't forget to visit the DSA website, and join DSA!
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
The Real Class War
The Real “Class War”
The super-rich are treating small businesses and working people like fish in a barrel.
by JIM MAYNARD
The current debates surrounding cutting the deficit and the mounting national debt underscore class struggle and class conflict at the heart of capitalism. Addressing the mounting deficit will require reversing over 30 years of supply-side economics, which has slashed taxes on the corporate rich and, along with unpaid wars and out-of-control military spending, has left the U.S. $14 trillion in debt, three-fourths of it from Republican presidents.
But instead of addressing the real causes of the deficit and national debt, the corporate elite — and their allies in both political parties — are targeting Medicaid, Medicare, and even Social Security, which has nothing to do with the deficit or debt and has a $3 trillion surplus!
Why is Congress making severe budget cuts when hundreds of profitable corporations are paying extremely low taxes or none at all? Fortune 500 companies like General Electric, Boeing, Verizon, Bank of America, and Citigroup pay no federal taxes. If you paid as much as $10 in taxes this year, you paid more than these pampered behemoths.
These and hundreds of other American companies use overseas and offshore tax havens to shelter their profits while claiming losses here in the U.S. These companies shift the responsibility to pay for our shared defense, roads, bridges, education, and public services onto small businesses and individuals. According to a recent report by the Institute for Policy Studies, over the past 50 years there has been a decided transfer of the tax burden away from the wealthy and multinational corporations onto the rest of us small fry.
The wealthy are paying the lowest tax rates in 50 years. A report by Wealth for the Common Good shows that the 400 richest people in America control more wealth than 150 million of their fellow citizens. And they are effectively taxed at just a 16 percent tax rate, while the working class pays up to 35 percent. These oligarchs' effective tax rate has dropped by two-thirds since the Eisenhower administration.
Income and wealth have become extremely concentrated in the hands of the super-rich. The richest 1 percent own nearly 40 percent of all wealth and get 25 percent of all income. The top 10 percent own more wealth than the bottom 90 percent, and they are taxed a lower rate for wealth than workers pay on wages. While CEO pay has skyrocketed, wages have declined, and the number of unemployed and working poor continues to grow. Just who is it that is waging class warfare?
If we are serious about addressing the deficit and paying down the debt, we have to repeal the Reagan and Bush tax cuts for the wealthy and cut corporate welfare and military spending — not, as the Republicans keep demanding, Medicare and social programs.
The Republicans want to cut gaping holes in the safety net to allow for more tax cuts for the corporate rich. The current GOP budget proposal includes $4.3 trillion in program cuts but offsets those cuts with $4.2 trillion in tax cuts, leaving only $155 billion in real budget cuts over the next decade.
Contrary to the propaganda of the Tea Party and its corporate sponsors, we are not broke. If corporations and households with $1 million of income paid the same tax rates they did in 1961, we would collect $716 billion more a year — $7 trillion over a decade. That is more than all the budget cuts proposed by the Republicans.
The American people seem to be ahead of their representatives in Congress. Vast majorities, even of Republicans and Tea Party supporters, oppose cutting Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid and support cutting military spending and raising taxes on the corporate rich. The Progressive Caucus — the largest in Congress, believe it or not — has proposed a "People's Budget," which takes a top-down approach to cutting spending and raising taxes, but it is being ignored by the corporate media. I wonder why.
There is indeed a class war, but it is being waged by the oligarchs and corporate rich against the working class. Let's stop all the talk of budget cuts until corporate tax dodgers and the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes.
Jim Maynard, a well-known local activist, is the organizer of the Memphis Coffee Party Progressives & Democratic Socialists of America.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
Progressive Budget: Tax the Rich, End the Wars, Cut Oil Subsidies, Invest in Jobs
House progressives offer budget plan: Tax the rich, end the wars, slash oil subsidies, invest in jobs
Liberal Dems claim the plan eliminates deficit by 2021
WASHINGTON – As the focus on Capitol Hill shifts [1] to America's long-run fiscal woes, Congressional progressives are one step ahead of the White House and Democratic leaders in offering a counter-proposal to the House GOP approach.
The broad sketch proposes to end the Bush-era tax cuts on high income earners, enact a surtax on millionaires and billionaires, increase the the estate tax and eliminate corporate tax loopholes and subsidies for oil and coal companies. It also aims to create a public health insurance option, end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and invest $1.45 trillion in "job creation," energy, housing and education programs.
The revenue-heavy proposal [2] (PDF) stands in stark contrast to the spending cuts-oriented plan put forth by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) -- and championed by GOP leaders [3] -- that slashes $6 trillion in federal programs (including Medicare and Medicaid) while significantly reducing taxes for wealthy Americans and corporations.
"This budget is transparent, straightforward and realistic about where we are in America right now," Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), co-chair of the progressive caucus, told Raw Story. "The Ryan plan, for all the credit it gets for thinking big, doesn’t reflect the reality of the American economy. It destroys the successful programs that made this country strong, especially Medicare and education, and doesn't even try to explain how it creates jobs. It reflects a faith that making government disappear will somehow create prosperity."
The plan is a nonstarter in the GOP-led House and would have a hard time winning over more than a handful of Democrats in the Senate. But Grijalva and his progressive caucus co-chair Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) wrote a letter urging Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), the top Democrat on the budget committee, to consider their ideas in the Democratic counter-offer this week.
In contrast to the Ryan plan, which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says will eliminate the deficit by 2040 [4], the progressive proposal -- which its authors have dubbed the "People's Budget" -- promises to yield surpluses by 2021, though it doesn't provide numbers to back the claim.
"We need an alternative that actually creates jobs, closes corporate tax loopholes, ends wasteful subsidies, protects Medicare and education, and puts this country back on the right track," Grijalva said. "We believe the American people deserve a choice, and that’s what we intend to give them."
While the Ryan proposal is likely to pass the GOP-led House when it's taken up this week, the progressive blueprint is highly unlikely to reflect the official Democratic opening bid. President Barack Obama is poised to unveil his fiscal 2012 budget [5] Wednesday, and it's believed to seek spending cuts while returning high-income tax rates to Clinton-era levels.
Both parties agree on the need to reduce the nation's massive long-term deficits. And the progressive leaders framed their proposal in terms of who will pick up the tab: the wealthy, or struggling Americans. The GOP proposal, they argue, would "tak[e] trillions of dollars from the pockets of the middle class and giv[e] ever more generous windfalls to millionaires and large corporations."
Republicans vociferously oppose increasing taxes -- including on the wealthiest earners and corporations -- warning that doing so would hamper the economic recovery. America's budget problems, they argue, are caused by excessive spending as opposed to a revenue shortage.
URLs in this post:
[1] shifts: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/04/09/11th-hour-miracle-congress-strikes-budget-deal-with-minutes-to-spare-before-a-shutdown/
[2] revenue-heavy proposal: http://grijalva.house.gov/uploads/CPC.Budget.112th.Memo.pdf
[3] championed by GOP leaders: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/04/05/gop-leaders-champion-plan-to-slash-medicare/
[4] eliminate the deficit by 2040: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/04/06/cbo-republican-budget-ramps-up-medical-expenses-for-seniors/
[5] poised to unveil his fiscal 2012 budget: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/04/11/will-obama-support-cuts-to-medicare-and-medicaid/
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Monday, April 4, 2011
From Memphis to Madison-The Struggle Continues
From Memphis to Madison, The Struggle Continues
Forty-three years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, where he had traveled to support AFSCME sanitation workers striking for the right to collective bargaining. The struggle for workers' rights continues today in Wisconsin, Ohio, Florida, New Hampshire, Michigan and other states throughout the country.
Join the Movement!
43rd Annual March Honoring MLK in Memphis April 4 2011
About 500 people representing several unions join the Memphis AFSCME Local to honor Dr. Martin Luther King on the 43rd Anniversary of his murder in Memphis Tennessee April 4, 1968.
MLK came to Memphis to stand WITH public workers and unions representing sanitation workers in Memphis. It was his last stand for justice and equality.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
DSA Fights Right's Austerity Agenda
 | DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS OF AMERICA | March 23, 2011 |
 | ||
NEWS FROM DSA A REPORT FROM DSA'S NATIONAL OFFICE. | ||
| Frances Fox Piven and Cornel West to lead National Teach-in on April 5th We are One Events on April 4th Republicans across the country from the new leadership of the House of Representatives to Republican governors and state legislators have generated a wave of “buyer’s remorse” as their extreme agenda became clears to voters. DSA members across the country have participated  in the wave of protests in response to the efforts in state legislatures to curtail worker’s rights, and the campaign by Republicans at every level of government to cut critical programs across the board—except those that exclusively benefit the big corporations and the elites who manage their business. The Republicans continue to pursue an agenda of rolling back all of the social and economic gains of the last century. Nineteen states are mulling legislation to curtail workers’ rights. Austerity is the Republican’s new one- word program, and of course the budget cuts focus on programs that benefit poor, working and middle-class Americans.In two years the Republicans have convinced large segments of the political class that a  recession that was caused by speculative excess on Wall St. can only be cured by eliminating worker rights, slashing public pensions and cutting Social Security, Medicare and other safetynet programs. And the Republicans in Congress have yet to introduce any jobs bill, despite making it the center piece of their campaign.We must continue to protest these efforts that tear up the social contract and continue the downward spiral that continues to impact jobs, wages and living standards. And we must educate Americans about the root causes of the economic crisis. DSA has created new materials to help our members, local organizations and YDS chapters respond to the crisis. These new materials can be found on our web site:
More materials will be posted as they are developed. As part of the fight back, DSA Honorary Chairs Cornel West and Frances Fox Piven are organizing a National Teach-In on Debt, Austerity and Corporate Greed (and what YOU can do about it.) Scheduled for April 5th at 2 p.m. (Eastern Daylight Savings Time), the event seeks to counter the drumbeat of right-wing propaganda. Content will be streamed live to teach-ins organized in local communities from the national teach-in at Judson Memorial Church in New York City. The local teach-ins will use the streamed material and add their own speakers that focus on their community. DSA has endorsed this program and is encouraging local groups and YDS chapters to organize local events that connect to the national teach-in. Because the national teach-in is in just two weeks, tie-in events need to be organized and publicized now. Check out the fight-back website for information on linking to the national teach-in and other resources to help you’re in your local fight back effort. On April 4th, the day before the National Teach-Ins, “We are One” events are being organized in many states in communities and at workplaces. On April 4, 1968 Martin Luther King was assassinated in Memphis while standing up for the rights of sanitation workers to form a union. The same rights that conservatives are trying to take away from workers now—the freedom to bargain, to vote, to afford a college education and justice for all workers, immigrant and native-born. The We are One website also has useful resources that will help fight back campaigns. We encourage DSA members and friends to participate in We are One events. They are sponsored by the AFL-CIO and are not in competition with the National Teach-In. We are One events will provide promising audiences to distribute material about the Teach-Ins and DSA or YDS. The response of the people of Wisconsin and the other states where similar legislation is being pushed demonstrate just how far the Republicans have overreached. April 4th and 5th are the beginnings of what promises to be a wave of new actions to mobilize against the austerity agenda. I know that I can count on DSA members and friends to participate in these critical events. In solidarity,  Frank Llewellyn National Director |
Paid for by the Democratic Socialists of America, 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 505, New York, NY 10038. |
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Nashville Tennessee Rally March 15
Stand at the Capitol for Good Jobs, Living Wages and Health Care! Stop the Attacks on Public Workers and Our Public Services!
Join community, faith and labor organizations from across Tennessee to demand that Governor Haslam and the General Assembly get their priorities straight. The attacks on teachers, firefighters and all public workers have to end! Tennesseans need jobs, good jobs that pay living wages and have health care. We need green jobs and jobs that don't discriminate against workers. And now more than ever we need our invaluable public services.
On Monday, March 14, 2011, Governor Haslam will deliver his first State of the State Address. Join us on Tuesday, March 15, 2011, as we lay out a message of our own. From Madison, Wisconsin, to Columbus, Ohio, to Nashville, Tennessee, working people are standing up for our rights and demanding that government respect our right to organize, deliver on our needs and not bend to corporate greed.
For more information, including logistics of parking, drop off locations, et cetera, contact the Tennessee AFL-CIO at 615-269-7111.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Madison Rally Bigger Than Biggest Tea Party Rally | Tea Party and the Right | AlterNet
Police estimated up to 100,000 people turned out in Madison, WI yesterday to protest Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) assault on unions, making it bigger than any protests the city has witnessed, even those during the Vietnam War. The Madison rally is part of a much larger Main Street Movement of average Americans demanding fairness in labor laws, social spending, and taxation that has emerged in Ohio, New Jersey, Florida,Michigan, and elsewhere. But yesterday’s rally in Madison is noteworthy because at 85,000-100,000, it was bigger than the biggest tea party protest, the September 12, 2009 rally in Washington, D.C., which turned out only an estimated 60,000-70,000. A photo of the Madison rally yesterday:
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Why Isn't Wall Street in Jail?
Why Isn't Wall Street In Jail?
Financial crooks brought down the world's economy — but the feds are doing more to protect them than to prosecute them...
Another great article by Matt Taibbi exposing the crooks on Wall Street
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Class Warfare in Wisconsin
From Madison, Wisconsin to Ohio and beyond, the progressive/left is waking up and the labor movement is fighting for it's existence against corporate-funded attacks on labor and collective bargaining for public workers (and all workers) by Republican (and some Democratic) governors and state legislatures. It's time for a REAL "tea party revolution" against the corporate elites!
The Labor Uprising in Wisconsin
Showdown in Wisconsin: Are We Ready to Take America Back?
12 Things You Need to Know About the Wisconsin Uprising
Class Warfare in Wisconsin: 10 Things You Should Know
WI Governor's Fake Budget Crisis: Tax Breaks to Corporations to Bust Unions
Wisconsin is Battleground Against Billionaire Koch's Plan to Break Unions
Labor's Last Stand
The Betrayal of Public Workers
Thom Hartmann, Two Paths: Bust Unions or Raise Taxes on the Wealthy
Robert Reich: Exposing the Republicans' 3-Part Strategy to Destroy the Middle Class
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