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.
IN THIS
ISSUE

Fighting The Right
National Teach-In
We are One


  DSA Fights Republican Austerity Agenda
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 arecession 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: 
  • petition in support of  HR 870, The Humphrey-Hawkins 21st Century Full Employment and Training Act, introduced into the House of Representatives by John Conyers, U.S. Representative from Detroit, and friend of DSA. This bill introduces several strategies to generate jobs, including the establishment of a National Full Employment Trust Fund to create employment opportunities for the unemployed and a tax on securities transactions.
  • budget cuts “questions and answers” leaflet, a sample letter to the editor on budget cuts, and a model op-ed articles on state budget cuts.  All of these are in an editable format and easily adaptable for you to include pertinent material on the budget fight in your state or community.
  • A questions and answers flyer on the attacks on public employeesalong with a sample letter to the editor and model op-ed articles. These, too, can be edited to include material specific to your state or community.
  • talking points memo on budget cuts and the attacks on public employees.
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.

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 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 OhioNew JerseyFlorida,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:
For two years, tea party activists and their allies in the GOP have claimed that the hard-right movement represents the true beliefs of the American people. But the crowd in Madison and numerous polls tell a different story.

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