CNY PROGRESSIVE ACTION NEWSLETTER
FEBRUARY 23, 2015
Vol. 2, No. 5
NEWSLETTER OF THE CENTRAL NEW YORK CITIZENS IN ACTION, INC. (ESTABLISHED IN 1997)
You can view newsletter on:
https://cnycitizenaction.wordpress.com
HEADLINES
CNY PRO-PUBLIC ED “ALLKIDSNEED” RALLY & MARCH
CONGRESS: DON’T BETRAY DEMOCRACY! NO “FAST TRACK” FOR THE TPP
DONATE TO CENTRAL NEW YORK CITIZENS IN ACTION
TELL CONGRESS TO STOP HUMAN SERVICE CUTS
REFORM NEW YORK’S RAINY DAY FUND CREATE A TRUE SAFETY NET FOR NEW YORK’S MOST VULNERABLE
THE DESTROY-EVERYTHING CONGRESS HAS ITS SIGHTS SET ON THE CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU (CFPB)
OPPOSE CUTS TO CONCURRENT SSDI AND UI BENEFITS
LEGISLATIVE EDUCATION AND ACTION DAY TO END INCOME INEQUALITY
THE NO-COST WAY TO DO YOUR TAXES THIS YEAR:
MYFREETAXES, THE NATION’S ONLY FREE ONLINE TAX PROGRAM AND HELPLINE
GROUNDED
SUNY POLY TO HOST FREE SERIES ON CONSTRUCTION BUSINESS
GETTING STUFF DONE
ELECTED OFFICIALS LIST
CNY PRO-PUBLIC ED “ALLKIDSNEED” RALLY & MARCH
Thursday, March 5 at 4:00pm
Oneida Square Roundabout
Utica, New York 13502
SAVE THE DATE!!
What: #AllKidsNeed Rally/March down Genesee St. Utica, NY.
When: 3/5 at 4:00 p.m. starts at Oneida Square
Bring: Wear warm clothes, put your long johns on, comfy shoes, your kids, your students, your clubs, your teams, your significant others, neighbors, friends, congregation, temple, organization, etc. all of those interested in fighting for public education in NYS.
Signs/Banners: yes!
Join us along with fellow locals & allies from around CNY to make our voice heard! Now is the time!
This is a rally “sponsored by” AQE NY
(Alliance for Quality Education, NY)
CONGRESS: DON’T BETRAY DEMOCRACY! NO “FAST TRACK” FOR THE TPP
There is bi-partisan opposition in Congress to Fast Track and many citizens and groups are mobilizing to stop it.
The corporate media is reporting that since the Republican leadership and President Obama support Fast Track trade authority, it is a done deal. And that message, also heard by countries negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), is driving the race to finalize that agreement.
The truth is: Fast Track is not a done deal. There is bi-partisan opposition in Congress and a large movement organized to stop it.
Across the political spectrum there is mass opposition to fast tracking the secretly negotiated TPP, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP, aka TAFTA) and the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA). People remember the impact of NAFTA on job loss, destruction of Mexican agriculture, expansion of inequality, environmental degradation and increased immigration. The most recent South Korean trade pact, which Obama touts as a success, is leading to similar results of lost jobs and an expanding US trade deficits.
Members of both parties know that Obama will be out of office when the negative impacts of these trade agreements are felt. Congress will be alone facing an angry electorate while Obama is raising money for his post-presidential career from the transnational corporations who get rich off these agreements at the expense of everyone else.
Fast Track faces widespread opposition in the U.S. Congress and among the U.S. public. Though a Fast Track bill was tabled about one year ago, it has gone nowhere due to massive opposition from most Democrats and a sizeable bloc of Republicans. This past September, nearly 600 organizations sent a letter opposing Fast Track to Chair Ron Wyden. A poll earlier this year found that 62 percent of U.S. voters oppose Fast Tracking the TPP.”
Indeed, a year ago when the Congress considered Fast Track there was a massive outpouring of opposition. Congress received more than 40,000 phone calls and 600,000 emails opposing Fast Track in ten days. More than 100 organizations joined the Stop Fast Track coalition, 5.4 million users were reached in a social media “Thunderclap” and 50 rallies and protests were held in the US, Canada and Mexico.
In November 2014, the opposition to TPP grew significantly when the world’s largest trade union, the International Trade Union Confederation representing 176 million workers added their voice to the growing list of organizations and individuals speaking out against the trade pact. They urged that the negotiations be stopped and a transparent process be developed before they begin again.
In November, during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit there were protests held around the world against TPP. In the United States, a broad coalition of labor unions, environmental, consumer, faith, online, and other groups assembled on Capitol Hill to deliver 713,674 petition signatures opposing Fast Track. Eyes on Trade reporting on these worldwide protests says “The message of citizens across the globe is clear: we are not willing to accept a ‘trade’ deal negotiated in secret in the interest of corporations and at the expense of our rights to safety, democracy, and health.”
The arguments are on our side. Public Citizen published a report reviewing the 20 year history of these corporate trade agreements. The data paint an ugly picture:
– Trade deficits have exploded, growing more than 440 percent with countries with Fast Tracked trade pacts. Since Fast Track was used for NAFTA and the WTO, the U.S. goods trade deficit has more than quadrupled, from $216 billion to $870 billion.
– Good American jobs were destroyed; nearly 5 million U.S. manufacturing jobs – one in four – were lost since the Fast Tracking NAFTA.
– U.S. wages have stagnated and inequality has soared with three of every five manufacturing workers who lost a job finding reemployment with pay cuts, one in three losing greater than 20 percent, according to the Labor Department. U.S. wages have barely increased in real terms since 1974 – the year that Fast Track was first enacted – despite American worker productivity doubling.
– U.S. food exports have stagnated while food imports have doubled under NAFTA and the WTO. The average annual U.S. agricultural deficit with Canada and Mexico under NAFTA’s first two decades reached $975 million, almost three times the pre-NAFTA level. Approximately 170,000 small U.S. family farms have gone under since NAFTA and WTO took effect.
This is a hard record to defend. Congress must be made aware of the failure of corporate trade agreements and warned that they will be the ones paying the political price. Congress needs to live up to its constitutional duty and oppose Fast Track and examine these agreements closely.
These trade agreements are game changers for climate justice. People can work to stop extreme energy extraction or create a new energy economy in the face of climate change, but if these treaties become law, their efforts will have been in vain and their successes reversed.
The same is true for Internet activists who are working to ensure a free and open Internet. All of the work on raising wages will be undone by trade agreements that allow corporations to sue for expected lost profit from laws passed in the public interest.
On issue after issue, if we fail to stop these trade agreements, it will be a major setback. The only way these agreements can become law is through secret negotiations in league with transnational corporations followed by Congress giving up its constitutional responsibility and not having a democratic and transparent review process. Stopping Fast Track is the essential task ahead.
As you may have heard, Senate Finance Committee Chair Orrin Hatch (R-UT) is saying he wants to reintroduce Fast Track legislation for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) this month — right after Members of Congress return from this week’s Presidents Day recess. Now’s the time to tell Congress: no Fast Track for the TPP! http://org.salsalabs.com/o/1034/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=16706
Leaked documents suggest the TPP would have disastrous effects on the economy, public health and environment here in the United States and beyond. Fast Track would allow the TPP and other harmful trade agreements to be rushed through Congress, circumventing ordinary review, amendment and debate procedures. We can’t allow that to happen.
The corporations behind the TPP are now going all-out in support of Fast Track, with teams of lobbyists trolling the halls of Congress and applying as much pressure as they can. When Members of Congress are back home, in-district this week for the Presidents Day recess (from February 14 to 23) it’s absolutely critical that they hear from you and other constituents. At the end of the newsletter, please find a list of federal representatives you should contact to voice your opposition against Fast Track.
Take Action! Text TPP to 877877 or call 888-706-4535 and tell Congress to stop the Fast Track authority of the TransPacific Partnership.
DONATE TO CENTRAL NEW YORK CITIZENS IN ACTION
Please support the work of Central New York Citizens in Action!
Your support today is an important investment in the progressive advocacy, education, research, organizing, and consumer protection work that we do to lift up the engine of our economy – hardworking Central New Yorkers and the families.
Please send your check to:
Central New York Citizens in Action, Inc., P.O. Box 411, Utica, NY 13503-0411. Because we are an advocacy group, donations are not tax deductible.
Thank you for your support.
TELL CONGRESS TO STOP HUMAN SERVICE CUTS
Across all the states, about one-third of the revenues used to fund state programs come from the federal government. Beyond that, millions rely directly on Social Security, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Supplemental Security Income, low-income tax credits, housing assistance, and federal health care programs. Therefore, the federal budget is of vital importance to us. We believe that by making the right investments in essential services, the federal budget can and should be an engine of prosperity for all Americans.
We are asking local citizens to contact their members of Congress to urge them in their budget decisions to preserve the capacity of the federal government to invest in shared prosperity and to help people escape poverty. Federal budget choices should be based on four principles espoused by the Strengthening the Values and Economy (SAVE) for All campaign: (1) protect low-income and vulnerable people; (2) invest in broadly shared prosperity that raises incomes across the economic spectrum; (3) increase revenues from fair sources; and (4) seek responsible savings by targeting wasteful spending in the Pentagon and elsewhere. Specifically:
(1) Protect low-income and vulnerable people: More than 45 million Americans live in poverty. About 28 percent of working age people with disabilities and one in five children are poor. Even more sobering, about one in three African American and Latino children is poor. But taking into account vital federal safety net programs, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), low-income tax credits for working families, unemployment insurance, and Social Security, millions have been lifted out of poverty. Congress’ goal should be to strengthen the role of these programs, plus Medicaid, Medicare, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), the Affordable Care Act, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), in improving economic security for low-income and vulnerable people. Reduced benefits or eligibility will inflict harm. We strongly oppose straitjacketing SNAP and Medicaid by rigid limits such as block-granting or per capita caps. Broadly shared economic growth depends on maintaining the capacity of these programs to respond to need.
Congress should protect vital services for low-income people by ending the sequestration cuts scheduled to resume next October. Adequate appropriations for programs providing child care, education and training, affordable housing and home energy assistance, nutritious food for young and old alike, health care, mental health and substance abuse services, offer routes out of poverty. These domestic and international (“non-defense discretionary”) programs have already suffered serious cuts. Under existing caps, domestic discretionary spending in 2015 would fall to its lowest level as a share of the economy in 50 years. If sequestration resumes in FY 2016, overall cuts in this category would rise to 17 percent since FY 2010, taking inflation into account. Sequestration holds us back.
(2) Invest in broadly-shared prosperity: There are many ways the federal budget can promote economic growth that leads to more jobs with decent pay and benefits. One lesson is clear: merely continuing or expanding tax cuts for upper-income individuals or corporations is not an effective means of increasing access to good middle-class jobs. Such policies have helped those at the top to increase their income and wealth, but have done far too little to promote shared prosperity. In fact, by reducing federal revenues needed to fund investments, these unfair tax cuts have denied opportunity to low-income people and worsened inequality. With the same bipartisan approach that led to the reauthorization of the Workforce and Innovation Opportunity Act (WIOA), we urge Congress to provide funding for all levels of education, from early childhood through post-secondary, apprenticeships, and subsidized jobs to make sure that workers have the skills and experience they need. We also urge your support for job-creating investments in infrastructure, renewable energy, and other sectors.
(3) Increase revenues from fair sources: Federal revenues are inadequate to meet our nation’s current needs. It harms economic growth to slash needed investments by keeping revenues far below almost all other industrialized nations as a percentage of GDP. Despite the higher statutory tax rates, effective tax rates for the richest Americans are low: the Wall Street Journal cited IRS data that the 400 richest taxpayers (averaging $265 million in income) paid an effective federal income tax rate of 18 percent in 2010. Corporations have been able to avoid taxes on trillions of dollars of income stashed in tax havens overseas. Because they fail to pay their fair share, our nation is losing the competitive advantage that comes from a skilled and healthy workforce and cutting-edge infrastructure and technology. We strongly support closing tax loopholes that target benefits to the wealthy and profitable corporations. For example, Congress should raise the income tax rate on investment income (e.g. capital gains or dividends) to match the rate on earned income. Congress has repeatedly extended a large number of mostly corporate tax breaks on a temporary basis. To the extent that continuation of these tax cuts can be genuinely justified, they should not deepen the deficit, but should be paid for by reducing tax breaks judged inequitable and/or ineffective at promoting shared prosperity. Any tax reform plan should result in net increased revenue.
In order to maintain fairness in the tax code, it is vital that Congress makes permanent the 2009 improvements in the Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). If these improvements are allowed to expire in 2017, 16 million people, including 8 million children, will fall into poverty or become more deeply poor. Tax credits for low-income families have a demonstrated track record of encouraging work and improving children’s education and earnings in adulthood. Expanding EITC benefits for low-income childless workers and non-custodial parents has bipartisan support, would encourage work and prevent these workers from being taxed into or deeper into poverty.
(4) Target wasteful spending in the Pentagon and elsewhere: Wasteful spending does not help our security. Since 2001, Pentagon spending has nearly doubled. Flawed weapons systems like the F-35 fighter plane and spending $348 billion over the next decade on our outmoded nuclear arsenal are examples of waste that reduce our security. Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funding has allowed the military to avoid substantial impact from sequestration and other funding limits by moving non-war items into the uncapped OCO account. Military experts and bipartisan leaders have identified billions of dollars in responsible savings in the Pentagon budget, while still keeping our service men and women safe, protecting our security, and maintaining our commitment to veterans. We strongly oppose increases in military spending at the expense of domestic programs that educate our children, meet our health and nutrition needs, support our seniors in retirement, and invest in economic growth.
Please contact your member of congress and them to support a budget that adheres to the SAVE for All principles. Disinvesting in human needs or cutting some important programs in order to fund others will jeopardize our nation’s future prosperity by excluding millions from full economic participation. Please see a list of members of Congress you should contact to express your support for a budget that is consistent with the SAVE for All principles.
REFORM NEW YORK’S RAINY DAY FUND CREATE A TRUE SAFETY NET FOR NEW YORK’S MOST VULNERABLE
While New York currently has a Rainy Day Fund (RDF), it has proven insufficient in providing protections against cuts to human services and the social safety net when New Yorkers need them most. During the Great Recession the RDF was not utilized for a variety of reasons including its use as a cash flow fund and prohibitive repayment restrictions. As a result, human services suffered funding cuts estimated at $1 billion, just as demand for those services reached peak levels. FPWA supports positive changes in the Governor’s Executive Budget proposal released recently regarding the RDF. In light of this year’s $5 billion surplus, FPWA urges the legislature to create additional guidelines and further ensure funding adequacy for future budget stabilization. FPWA proposes the following reforms to bolster the fund and guarantee its appropriate utilization:
• Set aside a specific portion of the RDF to protect human services funding, and bolster anti-poverty safety nets • Close current loophole which allows funds to be utilized as a cash flow fund
• Raise the fund cap to reflect a realistic safety net given New York’s tax revenue volatility
• Create a deposit mechanism (a percentage of a surplus that reaches an agreed upon level) that allows the fund to grow during times of surplus
• Abolish the three year repayment requirement, as a sufficient deposit mechanism will ensure the fund is replenished when it is fiscally reasonable
THE DESTROY-EVERYTHING CONGRESS HAS ITS SIGHTS SET ON THE CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU (CFPB)
The agency was the brainchild of then-professor, now U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren. And in just a few short years, it has won tremendous victories to protect consumers against financial industry abuses.
So of course, Wall Street and its puppets in Congress are bent on defunding, defanging and destroying the agency, and House Republicans have already proposed a slew of bills to do just that.
Now we must rely on principled Democrats and reform-minded Republicans in the Senate to block these destructive House bills.
Tell your senators: Block the Big Banks’ shameless attacks on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Thousands of Wall Street lobbyists prowl Capitol Hill every day looking for ways to poke holes in the protections that you, me and millions of Americans rely on to safeguard us from dubious financial schemes and outright fraud.
The CFPB has recovered millions for military families that were overcharged during the housing crisis. It has shed light on the unethical practices of private debt collectors. And it is even poised to address forced arbitration clauses (the fine print banks use to prevent you from taking them to court if they rip you off).
We need every vote we can get to defend this essential agency.
Sign our petition right now urging senators to block any bills that would undermine the CFPB’s ability to protect consumers.
http://action.citizen.org/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=12696
The CFPB was one of the most important outcomes of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Senator Warren envisioned a Wall Street watchdog — and she, along with Public Citizen, our supporters and our allies, fought tooth and nail to make it a reality.
We must not let Wall Street’s Capitol Hill cronies dismantle the CFPB.
Tell your senators: Vote NO on any legislation that would weaken, restructure or otherwise harm the CFPB.
http://action.citizen.org/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=12696
LEGISLATIVE EDUCATION AND ACTION DAY TO END INCOME INEQUALITY
Wednesday, March 11th, 2015
Westminster Presbyterian Church, 85 Chestnut St., Albany
(1/2 block west of the Capitol)
9:30 AM Registration 10 A.M Issue Briefing Free Lunch
Noon Rally 1-4 P.M Lobby Visits
It’s Time to End Income Inequality
1. Raise & Expand Minimum
Wage; Stop Wage Theft
2. Increase Access to Education
and Training
3. Raise Welfare Grant
4. Fair Taxes
5. End Hunger – More HPNAP, Jobs
6. Single Payer Health Care
To Register call 315-725-0974
MAKE OUR VOICES HEARD AT THE STATE CAPITAL!
OPPOSE CUTS TO CONCURRENT SSDI AND UI BENEFITS: S. 499, H.R. 918, S. 343,
and Similar Proposals Would Hurt SSDI Beneficiaries
and Their Families, Discourage Work
Congress should reject proposals to reduce or eliminate benefits for individuals who concurrently receive Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Unemployment Insurance (UI):
• Social Security should not be cut. Cutting extremely modest SSDI benefits for people who also qualify for UI could worsen the financial security of workers with disabilities and their families.
• UI should be there for all American workers, including workers with some of the most significant disabilities who receive SSDI – it’s a question of fairness. SSDI beneficiaries who qualify for UI should not be treated differently from other workers under the UI program.
• SSDI and UI are earned benefits, paid for by workers and their employers. Workers who qualify for both should be able to receive the insurance benefits they have earned.
• Encouraging SSDI beneficiaries to work has long been a cornerstone of bipartisan Congressional policy. Cutting or eliminating benefits for SSDI beneficiaries who have tried to work but have been laid off through no fault of their own, and qualify for UI, could penalize beneficiaries and discourage attempts to work.
• Questions exist about how the Social Security Administration would administer such proposals at a time of serious underfunding of SSA’s administrative budget, particularly within the already-complex SSDI work incentives framework.
Congress should reject proposals to cut concurrent SSDI and UI benefits. Contact your member of Congress to oppose these bills.
THE NO-COST WAY TO DO YOUR TAXES THIS YEAR:
MYFREETAXES, THE NATION’S ONLY FREE ONLINE TAX PROGRAM AND HELPLINE
You no longer need to spend money on tax programs and costly tax prep services this year. MyFreeTaxes.comis a fast, easy, secure way for individuals and families to file their federal and state taxes online for free — and get their refunds quickly.
Taxpayers can self-file for free using MyFreeTaxes’ simple step-by-step process that includes a free telephone Helpline, email and online chat support from IRS-certified specialists, six days a week from 10 to 10. The program does the math for you and built-in checks and calculators help you avoid costly mistakes. In addition, it is a resource for information regarding tax preparation, valuable credits including the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit (CTC).
All you need to file your income taxes online using MyFreeTaxes.com is:
• Access to a computer
• Earned Household Income of $60,000 or less in 2014
• A valid email address
• A valid Social Security Number
Funded by the Walmart Foundation and operated in partnership with Goodwill Industries International, the National Disability Institute and United Way, MyFreeTaxes works with filers to maximize their refunds and help eligible families and individuals claim valuable tax credits to keep more of their hard-earned money and invest in their futures. Last year, nearly 1.7 million households saved $340 million in tax preparation fees thanks to MyFreeTaxes.
For more info about MyFreeTaxes go to http://www.MyFreeTaxes.com or call 1-855-698-9435.
GROUNDED
Please join us for a free performance of this highly-awarded play
A gripping one woman play about a drone pilot, by George Brant and starring Katelyn Burrello
Monday, March 9th, 7-9pm
(doors open at 6:30)
May Memorial Unitarian Society (3800 E. Genesee St., Syr.)
Free admission
Refreshments served after
From the award-winning playwright George Brant comes the story of an ace fighter pilot whose career in the sky is ended early due to an unexpected pregnancy. Reassigned to operate military drones from a windowless trailer outside Las Vegas, she hunts “terrorists” by day and returns to her family each night. As the pressure to track a high-profile target mounts, the boundaries begin to blur between the desert in which she lives and the one she patrols half a world away. Katelyn Burrello, a member of The Theater Institute at Russell Sage College, plays the role of the pilot in the Syracuse production.
GROUNDED has won the Smith Prize for Political Theatre, Fringe First Award-Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the Off-West End Theatre Award for Best Production of 2013. It was named a top ten London play of 2013 by both the Guardian and the London Evening Standard. Ann Hathaway will perform GROUNDED in NYC’s Public Theater this spring.
This production is free; sponsored by the Syracuse Peace Council, MMUUS Green Sanctuary Committee and Upstate Drone Action and is presented by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.
The day following the performance, Tuesday, March 10, is the start of a consolidated trial of four Hancock drone resisters. Please join us at the Town of Dewitt Courthouse, starting around 9am (and going until about 5pm). The trial is expected to last several days.
For more information, contact Carol at carol@peacecouncil.net or 315.472.5478 or http://www.peacecouncil.net/grounded
SUNY POLY TO HOST FREE SERIES ON CONSTRUCTION BUSINESS
The Mohawk Valley Small Business Development Center and SUNY Polytechnic Institute will host a FREE, six-part series titled “Grow Your Construction Business.”
The free program offered for women-owned businesses, minority-owned businesses, or small business contractors in the construction industry taught by experts in the field. Program topics include bonding, capital access and loan support, planning, insurance, construction management, and conflict resolution. The training program will take place from 4 to 8 p.m. on the following dates: March 25 and April 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29 at SUNY Polytechnic Institute. A light dinner will be provided at each session.
Applicants should contact Pam Palazzo or Roxanne Mutchler at:
Telephone: (315)792-7547
Email: palazzp@sunyit.edu
Address: SUNY Polytechnic Institute
100 Seymour Road
Utica, NY 13502
GETTING STUFF DONE
By Rick Cooley
The GOP fought long and hard to retake control over Congress. In the 2010 midterm elections, they took control of the House of Representatives from the Democrats, vowing to repeal the Affordable Care Act – calling it Obamacare. Since then, they have voted over 50 times to repeal the law, only to have it die in a Senate controlled by the Democrats. Since the Republicans took control of the House, Congress has lurched from one deadline to the next, basically accomplishing less than any Congress in modern times. They barely avoided a debt ceiling crisis, limped along with continuing budget resolutions rather than a budget and even culminated in a two-week government shutdown in 2013 before agreeing to short-term funding.
In 2014, the GOP finally retook control of the Senate with another dominating midterm election performance. The House is now more thoroughly dominated by the GOP than it has been for decades. They can basically pass anything they want. If only they could get the Senate Republicans and a few Democrats to agree to it. There’s the rub. The Senate is still subject to the same rules as when the Democrats were in control, meaning most measures need 60 votes, not 51, to pass, due to filibusters. The Republicans in the House are far from a unified group on many issues. Yet they still cling to the demands of those calling for repeal of the Health Care law and continue passing that legislation knowing full well it will neither pass in the Senate nor survive a certain Presidential veto were it ever able to get that far.
Many Congressional Republicans were outraged when the President signed executive orders attempting to at least partially fix a broken immigration system that would have been largely repaired by a bipartisan bill that passed in the Senate, but which the Speaker and House Republicans refused to even vote on. Trying to get the executive orders cancelled or overwritten, they decided to play a new budgetary hostage-taking card by passing funding bills enabling the government to function through the end of the current fiscal year, which ends September 30. The one exception involved only funding Homeland Security through February. That’s less than two weeks away, and Congress is in one of its frequent recesses this week. To top that off, before heading off on recess, Congress (both House and Senate) passed and sent to President Obama a bill authorizing the building of the Keystone XL Pipeline, setting up the first of many possible veto confrontations between the President and the Republican Congress.
As for Keystone, the avowed reasoning behind GOP backing of the project is an abject sham. They tout it as a job creation bill, even though it would create fewer than a hundred jobs that lasted longer than it takes to actually build the pipeline. Environmental concerns, including the impact the pipeline and the oil it carries would have on climate change, far outweigh the economic impact of the few American jobs it creates, not to mention that the oil transported through it would ultimately be exported abroad and not improve gas prices in this country in the least. The potential (or should I say inevitable) environmental degradation caused by massive oil spills across the American heartland means that the main upside of the project goes to the Canadian firm strongly backing it, not to the American economy or workers. Trying to make us think we are drinking Koolaid which tastes an awful lot like dirty petroleum won’t work. The project should’ve been quashed years ago, but was kept alive for political reasons and potential corporate profits. The time has come too put an end to it, once and for all.
Building a time bomb into the Crominibus that Congress passed last December seems counterproductive, to say the least. The immigration bill passed by the Senate was far from perfect, though the President has said he was willing to work with it. Included in that are provisions which strengthen border security. Many people who opposed the bill did so on the grounds that it places too much emphasis on further militarizing the border (primarily the one with Mexico, of course). What sense does it make to show disapproval of the President’s loosening of restrictions on immigration as outlined in his executive orders by shutting down the government department most closely assigned to executing the laws pertaining to border security?
Instead of working on an acceptable immigration bill that can be signed into law, Congressional Republicans are putting themselves into a position where they may, in fact, cause at least a temporary shutdown of a key government department that it needs in order to just maintain the status quo dealing with immigration issues, rather than solve and improve on them. They continue to duck the main issue by refusing to pass the legislation they think is needed to resolve the many pressing long-term issues dealing with immigration. Shutting down Homeland Security will be blamed squarely on House Republicans, should it happen, and rightfully so. Mitch McConnell spoke with glee as he foresaw a new era of getting stuff done now that Republicans have control of both the House and Senate. At this point, it would appear that rumors of the death of DC gridlock were greatly exaggerated.
Once they extricate themselves (and us) from the Homeland Security mess, they get to deal with the whole budget for the next fiscal year, which promises to be as cantankerous as ever, judging from the proposals put forth by the Administration and the grumblings coming from the likes of Paul Ryan and the other Republican Congressional leaders dealing with government funding. Every single progressive-sounding proposal coming from the White House seems to be met with more of the tax-cuts-for-the-rich-and-big-corporations and cut-all-domestic-social-welfare-programs that we have learned to know and loathe from the GOP ever since Ronald Reagan gained the White House back in 1980. To top it off, they appear to remain unwilling to raise revenues to pay for ongoing and desired (by them at least) military adventures in the revised War on Terror.
President Obama may be willing to act more boldly to forge a lasting positive legacy for his administration in its remaining tenure, but I see no signs yet that the largely intact Republican leadership in Congress is any more willing to compromise for the good of the people (and by extension, the nation) than they were during their last session. Makes some of us wonder if not only the Chief Executive needs term limits. Incumbents seem comfortable with business as usual. We certainly need to take action to curb the undue influence of big money in our political campaigns and all sorts of laws affecting the election of legislative bodies and other officials at all levels who make up the government controlling our lives. Cut the crap. Do your jobs. Get stuff done. Pass laws, confirm appointments, fix problems to the benefit of the many, rather than the few who paid big money to get you elected and serve their interests. You govern the people. You allegedly represent all of us. Make it so the word “allegedly” has no place in that last sentence.
ELECTED OFFICIALS LIST
FEDERAL REPRESENTATIVES
Representative Elise Stefanik
512 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
DC Phone: (202) 225-4611
DC Fax: (202) 226-0621
Email: https://stefanik.house.gov/contact/email
Representative John M. Katko
24th Congressional District
1123 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
DC Phone: (202) 225-3701
DC Fax: (202) 225-4042
Email: https://katko.house.gov/contact/email
Rep. Richard L. Hanna
The Honorable Richard L. Hanna
United States House of Representatives
319 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3222
DC Phone: 202-225-3665
DC Fax: 202-225-1891
Contact Representative Hanna: https://hanna.house.gov/email-me
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand
DC Address: The Honorable Kirsten Gillibrand
United States Senate
478 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-3205
DC Phone: 202-224-4451
DC Fax: 202-228-0282
Contact Senator Gillibrand: http://www.gillibrand.senate.gov/contact/
WWW Homepage: http://www.gillibrand.senate.gov/
Charles E. (Chuck) Schumer
DC Address: The Honorable Charles E. (Chuck) Schumer
United States Senate
322 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-3203
DC Phone: 202-224-6542
DC Fax: 202-228-3027
Contact Senator Schumer: http://www.schumer.senate.gov/Contact/contact_chuck.cfm
WWW Homepage: http://www.schumer.senate.gov/
Congresswoman Elise Stefanik proudly represents New York’s 21st District
Washington, DC Office
512 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-4611
Fax: (202) 226-0621
https://stefanik.house.gov/contact/email
John M. Katko
24th Congressional District
Washington, DC Office
1123 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-3701
Fax: (202) 225-4042
https://katko.house.gov/contact/email
STATE REPRESENTATIVES
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo
State Capitol
Albany, NY 12224
Fax:(518)474-3767
Tel:(518)474-8390
email: gov.cuomo@chamber.state.ny.us
web: http://www.state.ny.us/governor
Assemblyman Bill Magee, D-Nelson, 214 Farrier Ave., Oneida, N.Y. 13421; phone: 361-4125; fax: 361-4222; email: mageew@assembly.state.ny.us
· Assemblyman Marc Butler, R-Newport, 235 N. Prospect St., Suite 101, Herkimer, N.Y. 13350; phone: 866-1632; fax: 866-5058; email: butlerm@assembly.state.ny.us
· Assemblywoman Claudia Tenney, R-New Hartford, 5176 St. Route 233, PO Box 597, Westmoreland, NY 13490; phone: 853-2383; fax: 853-2386; email: tenneyc@assembly.state.ny.us
· Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi, D-Utica, Room 401, State Office Building, 207 Genesee St., Utica, N.Y. 13501; phone: 732-1055; fax: 732-1413; email: brindia@assembly.state.ny.us
· Sen. Joseph Griffo, R-Rome, State Office Building, 207 Genesee St., Utica, N.Y. 13501; phone: 793-9072; fax: 793-0298; email: griffo@senate.state.ny.us
· Sen. David J. Valesky, D-Oneida, 805 State Office Building, 333 East Washington St., Syracuse, N.Y. 13202; phone: 478-8745; fax: 474-3804; email: valesky@senate.state.ny.us
· Sen. James Seward, R-Milford, 235 N. Prospect St., Herkimer, N.Y. 13350; phone: 866-1632; fax: 866-5058; email: seward@senate.state.ny.us
NEWSLETTER ARTICLES ARE NEEDED
Please submit your articles, news items, and calendar listings to cnycitizenaction@gmail.com.
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Central New York Citizens in Action, Inc. was developed from the Utica Citizens in Action, a multi-issue public interest association affiliated with Citizen Action of New York. It was founded in 1997 to address critical social, economic and environmental issues facing residents of Oneida, Herkimer, and Madison Counties. Members of our group worked to empower low and moderate income Central New York residents to participate in shaping the policies that affect their lives, such as economic justice, environment, housing, education, economic development, health care, public benefit programs, and consumer issues. Our projects include research and policy development, public education on a wide range of public policy issues, development of educational materials, community outreach and grassroots organizing, coalition development, training, and lobbying. Please join our email list by sending an email to cnycitizenaction@gmail.com with the subject heading – Join List. We also invite you to become a member of our group and attend our meetings.
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