Geographies

Walker: Ready to Let Wisconsinites Suffer for Political Points

The following is cross-posted from the Wisconsin Jobs Now blog:

Gov. Walker continues to express “concerns” about keeping people healthy in Wisconsin. Wisconsin is one of the few states that has yet to accept billions in dollars to give hundreds of thousands of citizens access to the healthcare they need to stay productive, and in many cases, stay alive. In his latest statements the Governor said, “given the uncertainty around the federal budget, long-term funding is highly uncertain . . .”

Not only has the Health and Human Services Secretary come out and affirmed that the “Medicaid expansion is not a bait-and-switch,” but as we’ve mentioned before, this argument doesn’t hold a lot of water, but even more demonstrative of the governor’s attitude toward his constituents is when he brought up the fact that, “We already have one of the lowest rates of those uninsured in the country . . . ”

The Governor is behaving in a callous manner. The fact that we have a low number of uninsured people in Wisconsin is BECAUSE of BadgerCare. It was a revolutionary program in its time and goes a long way to make sure that low-income children and their guardians get the affordable healthcare they deserve. However, there are still over 100,000 people on the BadgerCare waiting list, many of which have little hope of gaining access to healthcare through any other means. In addition, 4/5 of the people to be covered under the BadgerCare expansion in Wisconsin make TOO LITTLE MONEY to be eligible for subsidized health coverage under the Obamacare insurance exchange (which, incidentally, Walker refused to set up at the state level and left to the federal government to organize).

In short, if Walker does not accept the federal funding he’s telling 168,000 Wisconsinites with no other viable option for health coverage that they don’t deserve to have their illnesses, injuries, and long-term needs treated. He’s telling the taxpayers of Wisconsin that he’s fine with us footing over $65 million in additional healthcare costs. He’s telling the unemployed that Wisconsin doesn’t need to create 10,000 in-state healthcare jobs.

And most egregiously, he’s telling the terminally ill that they don’t deserve the treatment they need to live.

Walker should stay out of national politics. Whatever “pats on the back” he earns by turning down this funding aren’t worth the lives that will be lost.

It’s simple. Accept the money, do what’s right, say YES to BadgerCare.

Add your name to the petition today!

It's not too late to add your name.

WI Gov. Walker Should Accept Money to Expand BadgerCare

Posted
January 17, 2013
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@wisconsin
@wisconsinjobsnow
Blog

Editor’s Note: This submission comes from Matthew Finnell of Wisconsin Jobs Now, a 99 Uniting coalition member.

The most important decision Gov. Walker may make over the remainder of his term is whether or not to accept $12 billion in federal funds from the Affordable Care Act to strengthen and expand the state’s BadgerCare program.

Under the recent Supreme Court ruling on “Obamacare,” states are allowed to opt-out of the once-mandatory Medicaid expansion built into the bill. Many states, like Texas, Louisiana, Iowa, and South Carolina have already decided to decline the additional funding in order to score some anti-Obama points. Put simply, we cannot allow this horrible decision to be made in any state, let alone here in Wisconsin.

Here’s how this issue affects Wisconsin, specifically:

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, Wisconsin will be able to add 211,000 citizens to the BadgerCare rolls by accepting federal funds. Because four-fifths of the adults who gain BadgerCare eligibility earn too little to be eligible for subsidized coverage in the new health insurance exchanges, BadgerCare expansion will be a boon to low-wage workers throughout the state. Also, the expansion will allow us to finally eliminate the waiting list for BadgerCare (which now has over 100,000 Wisconsinites on it).

States that have extended Medicaid coverage to “childless adults” (the main constituency of the BadgerCare waiting list) have seen fewer deaths – especially those caused by disease, accidents, injuries, and drug abuse.

Not only is expanding BadgerCare the right thing to do – it’s the most responsible thing for the state to do financially.

For starters, the federal government will pick up the full cost of coverage for newly eligible adults for three years and at least 90% of those costs in subsequent years. And overall, the state would save approximately $495 million in healthcare costs over the next 10 years due to an increase in federal aid and a decrease in uncompensated hospital costs.

In addition, the expansion is good for the business community. According to a Community Advocates analysis, “(The) Governor’s and Legislature’s failure to fill the BadgerCare eligibility gap would expose Wisconsin’s large employers to a tax increase. This tax would occur when employees between 100% and 138% of the federal poverty level, who do not qualify for BadgerCare, instead obtain premium or cost-sharing subsidies in the health insurance exchange, thus triggering higher taxes for their employers”

And finally, according to an independent analysis by Jack Norman commissioned by Citizen Action of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, the $12 billion in federal money for BadgerCare will generate a net of 10,000 new jobs.

Isn’t the Governor supposedly “laser-focused” on jobs creation and the business community?

In summary, accepting the federal funds to strengthen BadgerCare would not only insure over 200,000 Wisconsinites, it would create jobs, save money, and keep taxes low for the business community. It’s a win-win on every front. The governor will most likely announce his decision when he releases his state budget in February, so there’s still time for him to do the right thing.

Sign the petition today and urge Gov. Walker to make the right choice.

The People’s Lobby to Save Philly Schools

Posted
January 17, 2013
Categories
@fightforphilly
@pennsylvania
Blog

Editor’s Note: This submission comes from Umang Patel of Fight for Philly, a 99 Uniting coalition member.

On Thursday, January 10th, members of the Philadelphia Coalition Advocating for Public Schools (PCAPS) and Fight for Philly went to City Hall to tell City Council to request a moratorium on the closing of Philadelphia public schools. Coalition members met with Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell – a strong supporter of public education – to ask her to urge her peers to join the fight against school closings.

The Philadelphia School District is planning to do away with 37 public schools throughout the city. The PCAPS coalition is pushing for a year-long ban on the closings, asking for more time before making hasty changes that will disrupt the lives of thousands of families. A delay would also give District leaders time to secure additional funding for public schools. PCAPS hopes to encourage Mayor Nutter and others to aggressively pursue additional revenue, which they say can be obtained through tax reform and collecting unpaid real estate taxes. PCAPS cites reports that as much as $500 million is uncollected.

According to PCAPS, these massive school closings would:

Hurt our neighborhoods. Neighborhood schools are hubs of community activity. Closing a school increases blight and creates more problems in poor neighborhoods of color that already have more than their share. What is the cost of blight?

Uproot children and place them at risk. Students will be forced to travel outside their neighborhoods. They will face greater risk of harm from traffic and age-‐old rivalries. What will be the cost of this added danger?

Be of NO HELP to academics. Most of the schools that students will be moved to are not significantly different than those being closed. The mass closing plan includes no new funds for the more crowded, receiving schools. What is the cost of larger classes?

Save relatively little. The $28 million we are told will be saved is less than 1% of the district budget. New transportation costs, security costs, maintenance, conversion of buildings into grade schools, and the cost to communities of lost property value from the vacant buildings are not mentioned. Forget savings! What will the COST be?

Increase Poverty. The loss of hundreds of good jobs will drive more families into poverty. In one of the poorest cities in the country, can we really afford to cause disruption for families by destroying good jobs?

It’s obvious that closing schools would devastate our families and their children. We need to demand the school district’s leadership find solutions that reduce the chaos in our communities and make neighborhood schools better for all.

24 Sessions of Protest in Colorado

Posted
December 12, 2012
Categories
@colorado
Blog

More than 150 activists from Colorado, including many from Colorado Fair Share, paid holiday calls to the offices of Congressman Mike Coffman and Senators Mark Udall and Michael Bennet on 12/10 to deliver a clear message: as Congress approaches the “fiscal cliff,” they need to keep the 98% of Americans earning less than $250,000 in the forefront of their minds. The activists did 24 shifts of protests at the senators’ offices, visiting every 20 minutes.

Their message? Ensure Congress passes the middle class tax cuts while ensuring that the wealthiest 2% pay their fair share, while also protecting education programs, Medicare, Medicaid and other vital services.

David Bouchey, a former biotech executive from Aurora who has been searching for a job for more than two years said, “Working families will be sold down the river if Rep. Coffman doesn’t end tax breaks for the rich and protect working families. I’m working two part-time jobs to try to support my family. Rep. Coffman needs to publicly agree to extend the middle class tax cuts and protect our vital services from cuts.”

The protest was held as Congress considers ways to move the country forward while avoiding the automatic cuts to services and tax increases known as the “fiscal cliff.” Some in Congress are holding out for more tax cuts for the wealthy, putting the middle class tax cuts in jeopardy. Some are pushing for a budget deal that includes cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, education, childcare and other programs that families count on.

“This holiday season, so many of us are still hurting financially,” said Jeanne May, an area realtor. “My financial outlook is uncertain. Many of my neighbors and friends are in the same boat. I went to Rep. Coffman’s office today because I want to make sure that no politician jeopardizes our economy even more, when we are trying to get back on our feet.”

Colorado Fair Share Activist Op-Ed Featured in The Denver Post

Posted
December 10, 2012
Categories
@colorado
Blog

Jeanne May, an activist from Colorado Fair Share shared her thoughts on the fiscal cliff and the need for middle class tax cuts in Sunday’s Denver Post.

Here it is:

Middle class taxpayers need a break now

When middle-class people like me voted on Election Day, there was one thing most of us agreed on: It’s time to make the rich pay their fair share of taxes again. Even some people who didn’t vote for President Obama agreed that it’s not right to force the middle class to cover the fallout from an economic crisis that we didn’t cause.

While Republican Congressmen Mike Coffman and Scott Tipton joined their Democratic colleagues in the Colorado delegation urging congressional leadership to work on a “comprehensive, balanced deficit-reduction package” to avoid the fiscal cliff, their tax-policy positions are not clear.

If both congressmen truly respect their duty to represent the interests of their constituents, I urge them to heed the Election Day message: Vote not only to extend the tax cuts for middle-class people immediately but also to increase the taxes for the richest 2 percent in these final weeks of 2012.

Reps. Coffman and Tipton may not realize it, but going into this holiday season, millions of us are still reeling financially — from lost homes, lost jobs or a seriously impaired sense of economic security.

As a real estate agent, I have had a unique view of the recent recession sparked by the housing bubble. My clients and I are just now starting to feel like we’ve hit bottom and, slowly, are on the way up financially. And it’s those of us on Main Street, not Wall Street, who want political leaders to avoid decisions that will jeopardize our country’s fragile economic recovery.

Colorado would lose out if the middle-class tax cuts come to an end. Those who make less than $250,000 would have to pay an additional $2,000 more a year in taxes. That’s $2,000 less a year in most folks’ pockets to spend on food, services and goods. That’s a real bite into my budget. So we will spend even less and the recession will drag on.

Middle-class people like me will also lose out if Congress doesn’t end the tax cuts for the wealthiest top 2 percent. If we don’t make the richest Americans pay their fair share and do their part to reduce the deficit, we could end up with a budget deal that cuts Medicare, Medicaid, child care and other vital services. The loss of these services will lead to a loss of jobs right here in Colorado.

Education is another area subject to cuts, and that is simply unacceptable. Education has been and still is the standard that set America above the rest. We have a history of training our youth with state-of-the-art technology and tools, but sadly, this standard is fading.

As a tutor in the Cherry Creek School District, I see firsthand that our schools are already doing more with less, and there is nothing left to cut out. Building a healthy middle class depends on the strength of public education.

We cannot slash our way to prosperity by continuing to break the backs of the middle class like this. We can thrive again by investing in our country, the economy and in each other.

The president said he wasn’t going to ask students and seniors and middle-class families to pay down the entire deficit while people who make more than $250,000 aren’t asked to pay even their fair share in taxes.

Congressmen Coffman and Tipton should follow that sensible lead. They should not hold out for tax cuts for the richest among us.

Take a vote now that tells middle-class people like me that we can put our minds at ease going into the holidays. Extend those tax breaks for the middle class now, and require the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share, too.

Jeanne May is an Aurora real estate agent, a volunteer tutor for Aurora Public Schools, and an activist with Colorado Fair Share.

Deck the Halls with Middle Class Tax Cuts

Posted
December 6, 2012
Categories
@california
Blog

On Tuesday, December 4th, ACCE activists filled the air around the Memorial Auditorium with Christmas carols, entertaining people waiting in line to hear former President Bill Clinton speak. Our message was loud and clear – don’t hold regular families hostage to a tax cut for the wealthiest 2% of Americans.

These were no ordinary carols. No simple Rudolph or Silent Night here.

Sung to the tune of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, lyrics like these are more our style:

Lungren, our almost ex-rep
Has a real right-wing tone
And if you ever met him
You would say it’s time to go.

All of the voters have spoken
And we all voted for change.
We chose Dr. Bera
Cuz our economy’s not a game

Then one lame duck Congress eve
Voters came to say:
“Lungren with your term near done,
won’t you vote our way just once?”

Then all the middle-class loved him
As they shouted out with glee,
Lungren voted for the tax cut
For all the middle class families!

We call on Congress – including lame duck Representative Dan Lungren – to support a solution to the fiscal cliff that extends the middle class tax cuts, asks the wealthiest to contribute their fair share and protects vital services. To add your voice, sign the petition here.

Mid-Hudson Residents Call on Hayworth to Bridge the Fiscal Cliff

Posted
December 4, 2012
Categories
@newyork
Blog

Residents of the Mid-Hudson Valley took to the bridges this past Saturday to urge lawmakers not to go over the impending “fiscal cliff”. The group of twenty activists had a clear message for outgoing Representative Nan Hayworth: come to a deal on jobs, taxes and vital programs like Medicare that works for the middle class and workers of New York.

More than 20 activists dropped a banner off of 1-84 in Beacon urging Hayworth to vote for tax cuts for the middle class, but not the wealthiest 2%. If the Hayworth and the rest of House fail to extend tax cuts for the middle class, the average middle class family of four in New York will face a tax increase of $2,200.

Extending the package of middle class tax cuts, on the other hand, would benefit 98% of Americans and 97% of small businesses making less than $250,000 per year.

The members of the Mid-Hudson Valley 99% and their allies who participated in the protest are amping up pressure on Hayworth as the lame duck Congress heads towards a deal on the “fiscal cliff.” They are circulating a “jobs not cuts” petition that will be delivered to Hayworth on December 10. In it, they make clear that they want a deal that protects Medicare, Medicaid and vital education programs like HeadStart, while also extending middle class tax cuts.

Hayworth who had previously indicated she would not vote for any increase in taxes on the top 2%, but under pressure from local activists, she recently indicated that her position may be evolving. The Mid-Hudson Valley 99% will keep working to represent the interests of the vast majority of working and tax-paying New Yorkers, hoping that Hayworth will do the same.

Small Business and Community to Coffman: Jobs, Not Cuts!

Posted
December 3, 2012
Categories
@colorado
Blog

More than 50 small business owners and members of the Aurora, Colorado community stood together at a rally on Saturday to remind Congress that they’re united on the issue of taxes. At the rally they delivered a strong message to their Representative, Mike Coffman: middle class and small business owners making less than $250,000 deserve a tax cut.

That also means it’s up to Congress to also ensure that the wealthy pay their fair share. “Representative Coffman should not hold out for tax cuts for the richest among us,” said Aurora real estate agent Jeanne May, an Aurora real estate agent and member of Colorado Fair Share. ” He needs to vote for middle class tax cuts for people like me not tax breaks for millionaires who don’t need them.”

According to the White House’s Council of Economic Advisors, 98 percent of Americans who make less than $250,000 a year and the 97 percent of small businesses that earn less than $250,000 a year would see their taxes increase if the middle class tax cuts aren’t extended. The average middle-class family of four would be hit by an average tax increase of $2,200.

“If Congress stands in the way of extending tax cuts for the 98 percent of Americans who make less than $250,000, small businesses like mine are the ones who get hurt,” said Glen Goodson, owner of A1 Boxing Gym in Aurora. “A ‘my way or the highway’ agenda to protect the richest from paying a dollar more in taxes will force a tax hike on the middle class and shift more of the burden to working families and business owners like me.”

Members of Colorado Fair Share will gather again on December 10 to deliver a petition to Congressman Coffman reminding him that voters sent a clear message this November: they want jobs, not cuts. That means investing in job creation, extending the middle class tax cuts and protecting vital programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and education. Stay tuned.

One Final Chance for Rep. Allen West (R-FL)

Posted
November 30, 2012
Categories
@florida
Blog

It’s been a a long sleigh ride downhill for Allen West this holiday season. Now after a bitter and ugly election cycle, Allen West has witnessed the power of working families coming together.

Stand Up Florida community organization members in the deposed Congressman’s district have planned to give West one final chance to do something right. During his last days, he can vote to extend the middle class tax cuts and make the wealthy pay their fair share. It’s up to Allen West to decide if he’s going to be a Grinch this holiday season:

“On Saturday, local constituents will be putting up a lighted message at Cultural Plaza in downtown Lake Worth telling West to extend the middle-class tax cuts during his lame-duck session.

The brightly lit three-foot by eight-foot sign will read, “WEST: DON’T BE A TAX CUT GRINCH.”

Stand Up hopes that the sign will get people’s attention and get them to sign those petitions.

“The plan is to move onto other holiday events in the coming weeks,” Faath says. “Once we have the signatures, we will deliver them to him.”

IL Residents Demand Congress Protect Middle Class

Posted
November 30, 2012
Categories
@illinois
Blog

On Thursday, November 29th, Springfield residents visited Rep. Aaron Schock’s Springfield office to demand he protect a middle class tax cut and protect Medicare and Medicaid. A recent poll reported that the public sees the looming “fiscal cliff” as a serious crisis for the nation, yet Republicans, like Schock, are still willing to increase taxes on the middle class and are even willing to cut vital social services in order to preserve tax breaks for the wealthiest 2%.

“I went to my Congressman’s office today to ask him to support middle class tax cuts and close the tax loopholes on the wealthiest 2%. I want them to leave Medicare and Medicaid off the table because people have worked their entire lives for this and they should not try to balance the budget on the backs of the middle class,” said local resident Marcus Parker.

Congress faces serious choices before the end of the year. Will it make disastrous cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, childcare, special education and other vital public services that our communities rely on or will it take an approach that puts job creation first? Most people agree that Congress should focus on middle class tax cuts, let the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy expire and close tax loopholes that only benefit the ‘super rich’.

Residents dressed-up as Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid and illustrated the cuts Republicans want to make by creating giant cardboard scissors to mock cut Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid in half. Participating residents in this action also asked voters, passing by, to sign a petition asking Rep. Schock to create jobs and grow the economy; stand firm on the middle-class tax cuts and let the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy 2% expire.

Watch media coverage from ABC 20 here.