Birth of a Main Street Movement, End of Fracking? & More

From one of the protests in all 50 state capitols organized by MoveOn on Saturday

 Rally in New Paltz Saturday in solidarity with Wisconsin 

Tens of thousands all over the nation stood in solidarity with Wisconsin workers and workers everywhere on Saturday! In addition to hundreds of actions by the new organization US Uncut, more than 50,000 rallied in the capitols of all fifty states! This is the birth of the Main Street Movement (also called the American Dream Movement) that says stop stealing from and attacking the middle class! Make the rich pay their share!

I was heartened to hear a popular pizza place in Madison is deluged with orders for pizza to go to the crowd from all over our country! If you'd like to make a donation send to: AFT Wisconsin State Solidarity Fund
ATT: Rob Russell, 6602 Normandy Lane, Madison, WI 53719 Also, sign the letter of support for the brave Wisconsin 14 here.

1. 10 Ways Scott Walker Is Selling Out His Constituents to Corporations

Walker’s assault on public employees is only part of a larger radical agenda that will hurt the poor and middle class. Receiving little coverage are his plans to slash Medicaid, allow no-bid sell offs of public power plants to corporations, eviscerate environmental laws - banning wind power, repealing the clean water rule (despite the fact that 104 died and 400,000 fell sick from Milwaukee water in '93) and destroying wetlands, disenfranchising voters, cutting jobs, stifling innovation and installing autocratic rule. And for the GOP, Wisconsin is just the beginning. Geesh, no wonder record numbers of Americans are taking to the streets.

2. Don't take food out of the mouths of hungry women and children- make corporations pay their taxes instead! Last year, I paid more taxes than Exxon Mobil, GE, Bank of America and Citigroup combined, and so did you! This was the main theme of US Uncut protests held Saturday. They modeled themselves after UK Uncut that began when the UK threatened to cut programs for the poor totaling $7 billion. UK citizens asked "Why not make Vodophone pay the $7 billion they owe in taxes instead?" Read more on the movement to make corporations PAY UP!

 3.  Could this finally signal the end of fracking?

"Regulation Lax as Gas Wells’ Tainted Water Hits Rivers" NY Times 2/26

Thousands of EPA documents received by the New York Times "reveal that the wastewater, (from fracking) which is sometimes hauled to sewage plants not designed to treat it and then discharged into rivers that supply drinking water, contains radioactivity at levels higher than previously known, and far higher than the level that federal regulators say is safe for these treatment plants to handle. Thanks to Congressman Hinchey who got right on it! Add your name to halt fracking here. 

BREAKING- There were 2 earthquakes in Texas today close to fracking sites.This video uses satellite imagery to show the connection.

4. Clarence Thomas- Another Shocking Conflict of Interest Citizens United spent over $100,000 to attack Senators who opposed Thomas's nomination to the Supreme Court. Thomas must retroactively recuse himself from the Citizens United v FEC ruling! Join over 220,000 in signing the petition for him to do just that.

5. Baby Dolphins Dying in the Gulf
Baby and adult dolphins are washing up on shore in the Gulf at alarming rates. The BP oil spill happened at  the beginning of their gestation.



 

Stand up for Workers- Demand the Rich Pay Their Share!

JOIN US FOR THE RALLY TOMORROW!! 

Feb 24, Thursday, 12-12:30, 291 Wall St, Kingston

Ulster County MoveOn Council

Wisconsin Protester                                                                            buzzfeed.com

"Why is a 3% tax increase on the richest considered “socialism” but a 14% pay cut on middle class is “doing your part?” from a woman named Jennie on Twitter

The American people are "getting it". Rightwing political stooges, like Gov Scott Walker, are out to do the bidding of their billionaire, corporate masters; make draconian cuts to services for the poor and middle class, bust unions, remove regulations and continue to loot the middle class.There are well over 100 rallies planned all over the country tomorrow to support workers, oppose cuts to the neediest and demand the rich pay their share (click here to find one near you). In the case of Wisconsin, the Koch brothers who brought Scott Walker to power, not only want to destroy the unions, but they also want to be able to buy state-owned power plants for pennies on the dollar. Tucked into Walker's budget bill is a provision that allows him to sell off public utilities without competing bids. This guy is such an amateur. I just listened to the prank call, Walker took, thinking he was talking to David Koch. You can tell Walker is excited to be talking to his big honcho patron. In the 20 minutes they talked, Walker details his plans to bust the unions, compares himself to Reagan, talks of his growing popularity and says "This is our time to change the course of history." N'er a mention of the budget crisis.  At one point "Koch" suggests planting some trouble makers in the crowd of peacefully protesting workers. Walker decides not to, but admits "We already thought of that."

States across the country are experiencing budget shortfalls- not because of union demands (the protesters in WI said they were willing to cut benefits- but Walker is holding out for the end of collective bargaining for public employees) but because of the fraud and recklessness of Wall Street that depleted pension funds. The states have a collective budget shortfall of about one hundred billion and I know just the place they can find it!

Corporations in our country have not been paying their share for years. Yes, we have a high corporate tax rate- but what good is it if everyone uses loopholes like offshore havens to avoid paying, in many cases, anything at all. It is estimated that we taxpayers every year have to make up the hundred billion they are dodging. UK Uncut is a grassroots movement that is exposing the corruption there and US Uncut just launched in this country (they are having rallies across the country Saturday and MoveOn is calling for a 50 state response in the state capitols that day too!). The IRS estimates that very rich individuals and corporations are hiding $5 trillion in tax havens. End corporate tax dodging- it is economic treason!

We also need to seriously cut the Pentagon. With interest on the debt to pay for unfunded wars, we are paying over one trillion a year on "defense". A thousand billion dollars. Please don't forget that on the day before 9/11, Rumsfeld announced that the Pentagon could not account for $2.3 trillion! They just did not know where it went. They routinely cannot account for 25% of their money due to waste, incompetence and corruption. We should be looking for billions there so that we don't have to take food from hungry children, or let old people freeze in their homes.

Tomorrow, we will be thanking Rep Hinchey for standing up for the poor and middle class, but we will be making demands too- may the demands from thousands across the country reverberate and begin to take down some sacred cows that if left unchecked will turn us into a third world oligarchy. Sign up here.

And here is a great video of the Wisconsin movement. It's hard to believe a right wing deputy attorney general in Wisconsin suggested using live ammunition against these upstanding Americans. Jeff Fox should be fired! (update- sometimes justice is swift!)

If you live in the Hudson Valley, hope to see you tomorrow!


Wisconsin Budget Repair Bill Protest from Matt Wisniewski on Vimeo.