FYI to people outside Ohio, but in the west coastal area – Munsup
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http://sympa.mpen-ohio.net/wws/info/mpen-outside-westcoast
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· FW: Public Worker Protests Spread From Wisconsin to Ohio
· FW: Community Health Centers are on the Congressional chopping block!
· FW: Heartland Mobilizes to Fight for Working Families
From: Pan-African News Wire
Subject: Public Worker Protests Spread From Wisconsin to Ohio (25,000 in Madison, 3,800 in Columbus)
Public Worker Protests Spread From Wisconsin to Ohio
By Mark Niquette – Feb 18, 2011 In what union leaders say is becoming a national fight, protests against legislation to restrict public employees’ collective-bargaining rights spread from Wisconsin to Ohio.
In Madison, Wisconsin, crowds that police estimated at 25,000 engulfed the Capitol and its lawns yesterday during a third-straight day of protests as Democratic senators fled the legislative session. In Columbus, Ohio, about 3,800 state workers, teachers and other public employees came to the statehouse for a committee hearing. President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner, an Ohioan, argued over whether the bills are “an assault on unions.”
Ohio firefighters Dave Hefflinger and Jerry Greer said they were. They stood near hundreds of workers elbow-to-elbow in the statehouse atrium
and listened to a Senate hearing through speakers. Chants of “Kill the bill” echoed.
“We’re here to support our brothers and sisters,” Hefflinger, a 27-year veteran, said in an interview. “They’re trying to take away what we fought for all of these years.”
Hefflinger, 49, and Greer, 39, members of the department in Findlay, Ohio, drove two hours south to protest the bill. The measure would
eliminate collective bargaining for state workers, prevent local-government employees from negotiating for health insurance and replace salary schedules with merit pay.
With states facing deficits that may reach a combined $125 billion next year, Republican governors including Wisconsin’s Scott Walker, Ohio’s John Kasich and New Jersey’s Chris Christie are targeting changes in rules for collective bargaining and worker contributions for health-care coverage and pensions.
Wisconsin Walkouts
In Wisconsin, Walker championed a bill that would make public workers bargain only for wages and require them to pay 5.8 percent of their pension costs; they pay nothing now. They would have to foot 12 percent of their health-care premiums, up from 6 percent. Police and firefighters wouldn’t be covered by the measure.
Fourteen Democratic senators disappeared from the Capitol yesterday, just as the Senate was about to begin debating, according to the Associated Press. Their flight brought the debate to a swift halt by denying the chamber a quorum, the news agency said.
‘Don’t Blink’
Yesterday, University of Wisconsin-Madison students walked out of classes at the urging of student government and campus newspapers and marched to the Capitol, about a mile away. There, they joined protesters who filled the rotunda to chant, bang drums and sing, and spilled outside.
In a telephone interview Feb. 15, Walker said he spoke with Kasich about the demonstrations. When asked for advice, Walker said, “Don’t blink.”
The White House’s political operation, Organizing for America, helped to build crowds using social media, the Washington Post reported today, citing an unidentified Democratic Party official. Obama himself spoke to Milwaukee television station WTMJ.
“Some of what I’ve heard coming out of Wisconsin, where they’re just making it harder for public employees to collectively bargain generally, seems like more of an assault on unions,” the president said.
Boehner, a Republican from a Cincinnati suburb, responded with a statement saying he was “disappointed” that Obama criticized Walker.
Dire Challenges
“Republicans in Congress — and reform-minded GOP governors like Scott Walker, John Kasich and Chris Christie — are daring to speak the truth about the dire fiscal challenges Americans face at all levels of government, and daring to commit themselves to solutions that will liberate our economy and help put our citizens on a path to prosperity,” Boehner said.
The bills are state-level skirmishes in a national battle, and the purpose is to undermine labor unions and the Democrats they support, said John Russo, a professor and co-director of the Center for Working-Class Studies at Youngstown State University in Ohio.
“It’s really an ideological battle that’s being fought across the country right now,” Russo said yesterday in an interview while waiting to testify before the Ohio Senate Insurance, Commerce and Labor Committee. “This is a real teaching moment. Let’s have this debate about the role of the public sector.”
There were 50 witnesses scheduled, and Chairman Kevin Bacon said the committee would hear them without a break.
“This is a true test of democracy,” Bacon said.
Biggest Crowd
The statehouse spokesman, Gregg Dodd, estimated the crowd at about 3,800 and said it was the largest gathering inside the statehouse since it was renovated in 1996.
Mixing with protesters were members of Tea Party groups who staged their own rally in support of the legislation.
Mike Wilson, who founded the Cincinnati Tea Party, said the bill is an effort to restore balance between governments and their workers, who he said are overpaid.
“This bill is not on attack on public employees; it is not an attack on the middle class,” Wilson, 34, a technology consultant, said at the rally. “This bill is about math.”
Joe Rugola, the former president of the Ohio AFL-CIO who also is executive director of the Ohio Association of Public School Employees, said he represents bus drivers and janitors who earn about $24,000 a year.
“I’m still looking for this privileged class of workers,” Rugola said in an interview while waiting to testify. “This is just part of a national attack on working people.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Niquette in Columbus, Ohio at mniquette@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Tannenbaum at mtannen@bloomberg.net
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Distributed By: THE PAN-AFRICAN RESEARCH AND DOCUMENTATION PROJECT–E MAIL: panafnewswire@gmail.com
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Related Web Sites
http://panafricannews.blogspot.com
http://mecawi.org
http://www.world-newspapers.com/africa.html
http://www.africadaily.com
http://www.africa-union.org
http://english.aljazeera.net
http://www.freemumia.org
http://www.herald.co.zw/
http://www.anc.org.za
http://www.caribbeannewspapers.com
http://www.kpfa.org
http://www.wbai.org
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From: Cathy Levine
Subject: Community Health Centers are on the Congressional chopping block!
Community Health Centers are on the Congressional chopping block. As Congress works to pass another Continuing Resolution to keep the federal government operating, a $1.3 billion cut has been proposed for the health centers in the House version of the spending bill. In addition, another vital part of our safety net is threatened – the Corporation for National and Community Services Programs, including the AmeriCorps VISTA program, that has provided capacity building and human services to millions across the country.
And you can do something about it!
Call you congressional representative TODAY!
Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121
Ask for the staff that is handling the Continuing Resolution.
If you need a local number, here is a link that can help you.
https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml
Important Talking Points about Health Centers
- Federally qualified health centers serve as a community-oriented primary care system that cares for people in the most vulnerable urban and rural communities in the US.
- 70 percent of their patients nationally live in poverty, and most patients are uninsured or receive Medicaid and would otherwise lack access to regular physician care.
- The National Association of Community Health Centers reports these FQHC health centers save the national health care system between $9.9 billion and $17.6 billion a year by helping patients avoid emergency rooms and making better use of preventive services.
- The cuts could result in the closure of multiple health centers in Ohio and other states that were initially funded through the ARRA stimulus package two years ago.
- Health centers must be maintained at current funding levels (i.e., $2.19 billion).
Important Talking Points about AmeriCorps VISTA
- There are over 1,200 projects across the country, providing service opportunities, and poverty-level living stipends, to more than 6,000 AmeriCorps VISTA members nationwide.
- During the 2009-2010 project year of AmeriCorps VISTA, there were more than 1,330 men and women in Ohio serving AmeriCorps VISTA terms of service and since 1994, more than 22,000 Ohioans have taken the oath of service in one of six nationally recognized AmeriCorps programs.
- The Ohio Benefit Bank, started through an initiative of AmeriCorps VISTA members, has connected more than 181,000 Ohio households to tax credits, work supports and income enhancements worth potentially over $404 million dollars.
- The funding for the Corporation for National and Community Service Programs must be maintained.
In 2010-2011 UHCAN Ohio is sponsoring two AmeriCorps VISTA volunteers. They live on a modest volunteer stipend, and come to work every day full of energy to make sure all Ohioans get access to high quality, affordable health care.
Sincerely,
Cathy Levine Executive Director, UHCAN Ohio,
370 S 5TH ST STE G3, COLUMBUS, OH 43215-7436
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From: John Waltz
Subject: Heartland Mobilizes to Fight for Working Families
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This week, Heartland Revolution hit the road to Wisconsin! We were on the ground in the state capitol rallying for worker’s rights. Rights like collective bargaining are essential for millions of working class Americans and, once again, Republicans either don’t get it, or just don’t care. So, the people took to the streets to make their voices heard!
Wisconsin workers sending their message! Protecting American families from corporate fat-cats is a crucial part of maintaining a healthy working-class. That is why Heartland Revolution is dedicated to fighting for blue collar workers where it is needed most.
Heartland Revolution Executive Director John Waltz at Wisconsin Protests We are now mobilized to Ohio where workers are rallying to secure their rights. We’ll keep you updated on Facebook and Twitter. These demonstrations, while not romantic or sexy in the eyes of the national media, are perfect examples of regular people coming together to effect change.
Standing united against the Republican assault on working families! If you can’t personally make it to help with these protests, that is okay, please contribute to Heartland so that way we can stay mobile and carry all of our voices with Americans fighting for their rights! |
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From: Andrew Tierman
Subject: Check out the trailer from Public Citizen, if you haven’t seen it, for their video on the Citizens United decision, link below
See the link for the trailer, below, to the right of the word "Eleven". Andrew.
From: "Public Citizen" <publiccitizen@mail.democracyinaction.org>
Subject: Bulk: Money and Democracy Update
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