Jeff Flake debates GOP tax plan with voter on a plane
While traveling Thursday on an airplane from Washington, GOP Sen. Jeff Flake debated a voter in a wide-ranging...
While traveling Thursday on an airplane from Washington, GOP Sen. Jeff Flake debated a voter in a wide-ranging discussion about the GOP tax plan, the issue of Dreamers, the Affordable Care Act and the Children's Health Insurance Program.
Flake spoke for 11 minutes to a person who identified himself on his Twitter account as Ady Barkan, of California, according to a tweet posted by his friend. Barkan explained his current situation having been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and how the tax bill would affect his health care to Flake.
Read the full artilce here.
Uniting to Improve Wages and Conditions for Workers
Huffington Post - February 26, 2013, by Camille Rivera - In March of 1968 -- just three weeks before he was...
Huffington Post - February 26, 2013, by Camille Rivera - In March of 1968 -- just three weeks before he was assassinated -- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. declared in a speech that one of the great lessons of the civil rights struggle was that it was not just about integration -- but also about economic justice.
"We know now that it isn't enough to integrate lunch counters," Dr. King said. "What does it profit a man to be able to eat at an integrated lunch counter if he doesn't have enough money to buy a hamburger? ... What does it profit one to be able to attend an integrated school, when he doesn't earn enough money to buy his children school clothes?"
Unfortunately, 45 years later, we can still ask those questions.
New York is one of the richest cities in America, but it also has one of the widest income inequality gap in the nation: A report last year found that the top one percent of income earners made 32 percent of the income.
We have far too many hard-working New Yorkers, many of them people of color, working at or below minimum wage, often without overtime and benefits. They work in car washes, fast food restaurants, as airport security guards and in food service and small supermarkets.
That's Why UnitedNY, Make the Road NY, New York Communities for Change and labor organizations like the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union and 32BJ SEIU supported the workers when they formed an unprecedented coalition across all industries last summer, and held a big rally and march in New York City on July 24.
Since then, there have been actions, a boycott and a one-day fast food walk out -- all of which generated a great deal of public support. Five car washes have voted to join RWDSU; some supermarkets have settled unfair labor practices suits and agreed to pay a combined $750,000 in lost wages and back pay.
That's also why UnitedNY and the Center for Popular Democracy released a report on the ongoing plight of low-wage workers in New York City at a "Workers Rising" symposium on Feb. 13. The report spelled out the problem -- and organizing efforts -- and offered a list of recommendations to improve wages and working conditions for those at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder.
The recommendations range from supporting legislation to allow paid sick days for workers, to establishing a Mayor's Office of Labor Standards to ensure that employment laws are enforced, to urging New York State to allow the City to set a minimum wage higher than the State minimum, due to the higher cost of living in the five boroughs. These proposals are the result of conversations with workers who have struggled for far too long to make ends meet. They are the result of hearing from families who have lost loved ones who could not afford to take time off from work to get the medical care they needed before it was too late.
Hundreds of workers, advocates and community members turned out for the symposium, which featured lively panel discussions about strategies to help lift low-wage workers into the middle class. The energy inside those rooms was electric; the air was thick with hope and dreams.
A gaggle of elected officials was on hand for the Workers Rising event, including two declared mayoral candidates -- Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and former city comptroller Bill Thompson - as well as City Council members and others.
The report came just one day after President Obama said in his State of The Union speech that America should not be a place where working people who make minimum wage are still in poverty.
"That's wrong," he told a joint session of Congress. "In the wealthiest nation on earth, no one who works full-time should have to live in poverty."
Obama called for raising the federal minimum wage to $9 an hour, with indexing tied to cost of living increase. That's certainly a lot better than $7.25, which is the minimum wage at the federal level and in the State of New York, but nowhere near enough in New York City.
The UnitedNY/CPD report said raising the minimum wage to $10 an hour would allow full-time workers to make just $20,000 a year. The report also noted that more than 110,000 full-time workers live in poverty.
Any way you look at it, an increase in the minimum wage is overdue, and needs to be enacted immediately. If it can't be approved on the federal or state levels, those of us here in New York City must find a way to increase it locally. It is clear that $7.25 an hour is not enough to make ends meet, and the time for change is now.
All in all, the symposium helped to foster real conversation between elected officials, policy experts, and the low-wage workers themselves about the economic issues that are plaguing New York's workforce. Symposium attendees left the conference energized, engaged and filled with hope. They would have made Dr. King proud.
Source: Huffington Post
This Study Found That Major U.S. Cities Spend Millions More On Policing Than On Social Programs
This Study Found That Major U.S. Cities Spend Millions More On Policing Than On Social Programs
That fact that something needs to change in the way policing works in the United States isn’t debated. Nearly everyone...
That fact that something needs to change in the way policing works in the United States isn’t debated.
Nearly everyone, regardless of political ideology, can agree that things aren’t working.
Read the full article here.
Congressional Briefing Coming on the ‘Walmart Economy’
24/7 Wall ST - November 27, 2014, by Paul Ausick - U.S....
24/7 Wall ST - November 27, 2014, by Paul Ausick - U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Congressman George Miller (D-CA) are scheduled to appear as speakers at a congressional briefing on Tuesday, November 18, to discuss a business model that some are calling the “Walmart Economy.”
The term refers to a business model “where a few profit significantly on the backs of the working poor and a diminishing middle class.”
Also appearing at the hearing are employees of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) who are members of the OUR Walmart group, as well as Carol Joyner, Director of the Labor Project for Working Families; Amy Traub of research firm Demos; and Carrie Gleason, an organizer at The Center for Popular Democracy.
According to a press release from OUR Walmart, “The briefing will highlight Walmart’s low pay, manipulation of scheduling and illegal threats to workers who are standing up for Walmart to publicly commit to $15 an hour and full-time, consistent hours.”
Senator Warren was recently named to the Democratic leadership team that will be put in place next January. She becomes the strategic policy adviser to the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, a newly created position that the Democratic leadership probably thinks will serve as a bridge to the more liberal elements of the party. She was the driving force behind the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau following the financial crisis and has been a thorn in the side of the big banks ever since.
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'Secure scheduling' rallies focus on giving hourly workers more stability
'Secure scheduling' rallies focus on giving hourly workers more stability
Dive Brief: New York City Mayor DeBlasio and several advocate groups gathered recently to show support for the...
Dive Brief:
New York City Mayor DeBlasio and several advocate groups gathered recently to show support for the introduction of “Fair Workweek” legislation, designed to ensure that 65,000 hourly employees in the fast food industry receive fair notification on work hours.
Currently, employers nationwide aren’t required to provide their hourly employees with advance notice of upcoming shifts. As a result, too many families can't budget in advance, plan for education or family care, or secure a necessary second job, according to advocates.
The New York City event echoes the demands of coalition of New York-based advocates who launched a national campaign on Sept. 6. The groups — the Center for Popular Democracy, the Rockefeller Foundation and the online organization Purpose — are asking for scheduling at least two weeks in advance, eliminating on-call assignments that leave employees "scrambling for child care and unable to hold second jobs with uncertain paychecks."
Dive Insight:
Employers do realize that predictability and fairness are reasonable demands, but more often than not, labor cost (and in some cases, labor shortage) creates problems when trying to create better schedules. Frontline managers are expected to create the schedules while also trying to keep costs down, and balancing the two expectations isn't always successful.
What it will take is better workforce planning, with some technology solutions already available to help make that happen, say experts. Also, there are potential negative legal and compliance outcomes for employers who don't follow state and local laws that already require "reporting pay" time be allowed.
By Tom Starner
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Liberal groups push Clinton on Wall Street 'golden parachutes'
In a letter sent to Clinton, who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination, the groups pressed her to...
In a letter sent to Clinton, who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination, the groups pressed her to oppose “golden parachutes” given to bank executives when they agree to take high-ranking government jobs. Such a payment structure is not uncommon on Wall Street, but critics of the practice say it encourages a “revolving door” in Washington and undue governmental influence by the financial sector.
The groups asked Clinton if she supported the practice, while noting that two of her main primary opponents — Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley — have backed barring the practice.
"The revolving door between government and Wall Street helps the wealthiest few hijack our democracy for their own gain,” said Murshed Zaheed, deputy political director at Credo Action. “Americans cannot afford to have another administration from either party filled with Wall Street executives with multi-million dollar golden parachutes.”
Other groups signing on to the letter were Rootstrikers, Democracy for America, MoveOn.org Political Action, Center for Popular Democracy Action, The Other 98%, Friends of the Earth Action and American Family Voices.
The letter marks the latest in a series of pushes from the left to encourage Clinton to take a harsher stance on the financial sector. Whlie Sanders and O’Malley have hammered the financial sector as a key part of their campaign message, Clinton has taken a more measured tone.
Gripes about a heavy hand from finance in powerful government positions has become a particularly sore spot on the left of late. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) helped derail President Obama’s nomination of Antonio Weiss, a top executive at Lazard, for a top Treasury post. Warren argued Lazard’s long history on Wall Street should disqualify him for the position, urging someone else to fill the role without such ties. Weiss eventually took a separate post at the Treasury in an advisory role, where he did not need to be Senate-confirmed.
The Clinton campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Source: The Hill
Here's How to Make the Fed More Transparent and Accountable
The Federal Reserve has long faced fierce scrutiny from members of Congress, community leaders, and the press for its...
The Federal Reserve has long faced fierce scrutiny from members of Congress, community leaders, and the press for its lack of transparency. Fed Chair Janet Yellen, still early in her term, has signaled an intention to improve transparency and hold the Fed accountable to the public interest, and she’ll face an important test this month as she starts deciding whom to appoint to the newly formed Community Advisory Council.
In the most recent example of Fed’s insular system of governance, Bloomberg Business revealed concerning news about the recent appointment of Patrick Harker as president of the Philadelphia Federal Reserve. Harker had served on the bank’s Board of Directors prior to his appointment, and was even on the search committee interviewing candidates for the presidential slot. Then, in a behind-the-scenes maneuver reminiscent of Dick Cheney’s infamous self-selection as George W. Bush’s running mate, Harker became a candidate for the job himself, and was swiftly chosen by his Board colleagues. Harker’s shadowy appointment process was par for the course at the Fed. In Dallas, the presidential appointment process has been downright dynastic: the outgoing president, Richard Fisher, appointed an advisory committee made up of the people who appointed him to help select his successor.
Chair Yellen has an immediate opportunity to reverse course and change the face of the Fed. This year, the Fed announced the creation of a Community Advisory Council, intended to offer Fed leaders “diverse perspectives” on the economy, “with a particular focus on the concerns of low- and moderate-income populations.” Applications for the Community Advisory Council were due last week. The question facing Fed officials is whether they will appoint individuals to the Council who represent low- and moderate-income voices, or whether the Council will be another elite echo chamber (one earlier predecessor to the Council was heavy on members from for-profit lenders like Capital One and Citigroup—hardly organizations representing the interests of working families).
The announcement of the CAC was a direct response to growing demand for greater public representation at the Fed, and it’s not hard to see why. Of the 108 members of the 12 banks’ boards of directors (which select and oversee those 12 presidents), only 15 come from the nonprofit sector, academia, or labor organizations. The other 93 come from corporations or banks, even though the law requires that two-thirds represent a “diverse” set of interests, including those of labor and consumers. Fed officials lack diversity in other ways, too: among governors and presidents, all but one are white, and the vast majority are men.
Fed officials have huge power over the American economy: They vote on crucial monetary policy decisions, determining whether we reach full employment with rising wages for all or whether the economy continues toward stagnation and inequality. As long as Fed bodies are dominated by the financial sector, their decisions will reflect the perspectives of the very entities the Fed is meant to oversee, rather than the working families across the country who need higher wages and more equitable economic growth.
So, who will lead the Fed in the years to come? Next February, the terms of all 12 regional Fed presidents expire. Their respective Boards of Directors will decide whether to reappoint the presidents or replace them. A coalition of community-based organizations, faith leaders, policy advocates, and labor unions are calling for the Federal Reserve to make this process more transparent. At a bare minimum, the banks should publicize the schedule for the decision-making, the names and roles of the decision-makers, the criteria that will govern the process, and the names of candidates under consideration. A more public process would involve the opportunity for members of the public to serve on the search committees, mechanisms for the public to submit questions and receive answers from prospective candidates, and public forums where Fed officials actually engage in dialogue with the people whom they are supposed to represent. Chair Yellen and officials at the Fed have the power to implement such reforms, and their decisions will speak volumes about their commitment to building an independent central bank with democratic legitimacy.
Janet Yellen’s appointment as the first woman to lead the Fed signaled that change might be coming to a historically opaque institution. But to truly transform the Fed, Yellen and her fellow governors must ensure that the voices of working families aren’t drowned out by wealthy financial interests. The first step is ensuring that the new CAC lives up to its mission by including women, people of color, and representatives of organizations with low- and moderate-income members. It could even directly install some low- and moderate-income individuals on the Council. That would indeed bring new perspective to an institution that has, for too long, been dominated by the voices of America’s elite.
Source: The American Prospect
Protesters disrupt Senate hearing on health care bill that may be dead
Protesters disrupt Senate hearing on health care bill that may be dead
WASHINGTON — The Republican bill to replace Obamacare appears all but dead in the Senate, but the chamber’s Finance...
WASHINGTON — The Republican bill to replace Obamacare appears all but dead in the Senate, but the chamber’s Finance Committee proceeded with a hearing on it anyway Monday afternoon.
Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch asked by a reporter what chance the bill has of passing, replied “Zero. ... I don’t think it has much chance. The Democrats aren’t going to support it. They’re too interested in demagoguing it.”
Read the full article here.
New York Must Take Action Against Corporate Backers of Hate
New York Must Take Action Against Corporate Backers of Hate
Make the Road New York and the Center for Popular Democracy recently exposed President Trump’s corporate “backers of...
Make the Road New York and the Center for Popular Democracy recently exposed President Trump’s corporate “backers of hate,” companies that stand to profit off an agenda so steeped in hate, prejudice, and greed, you would have to be willfully blind not to see it.
Nothing is more dangerous than business as usual when it is conducted in a moral vacuum, and these companies have been more than happy to go along for the ride: Goldman Sachs, Blackstone, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Blackrock, Boeing, IBM, Uber, and Disney all seem eager to cash in on the Trump agenda.
Read the full article here.
GOP pours nearly $1M into Arizona special election
Activist Ady Barkan and New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg discuss what’s been happening on the ground in...
Activist Ady Barkan and New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg discuss what’s been happening on the ground in Arizona, where the outcome of the special election in the 8th district is perhaps less important than the margin.
Watch the video here.
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