Congressional Progressive Caucus

The   Congressional Progressive Caucus  has proposed an alternative to both the Republican Ryan Budget which slashes the  social safety net  and  Obama's proposed budget  which gives the Republicans most of what they want. See the Federal People's Budget.  Its main elements are:

 

1. Fair Taxes:   Tax the Wealthy

Make the Individual Tax system fairer:  Tax the wealthy  including amore progressive income tax and a progressive estate tax.

Reform corporate taxation:  end various deduction loopholes, end corporate welfare for oil, gas and coal companies;  reinstate superfund taxes to clean up pollution.

2.  Cut Military Expenditures

3. Create Jobs by investing in rebuilding education, healthcare and infrastructure.
 

The authors project that this budget, unlike the  Obama or the  Ryan proposals, will actually balance the budget  in 8 years.
 

Now that we have some common sense in Washington, how about the same approach in California.  We need leaders who will push for reforming the state income tax,  closing corporate property tax loop holes and a severance tax on oil.  And that is for starters.  Unfortunately, although polls indicate that this approach is supported by overwhelming numbers, politicians are afraid to challenge the giant corporations and come up with a CALIFORNIA PEOPLE'S  BUDGET.   

Cinco de Mayo Parade

Building ONE RICHMOND means showing respect for each of the cultures in our diversity. Everyone concerned with unifying Richmond should be in the Cinco de Mayo parade, and  about 45 days later in the Juneteenth celebration. Plan on joining us this Saturday.

From Mayor McLaughlin:

I invite you all to join my contingent of the Cinco de Mayo parade. The parade will take place on Saturday, April 30.  The parade will start at 10 a.m. at 24th and Barrett.

We have a couple of banners: the "Reaching out for a Better Richmond" banner and the banner with the Benito Juarez quote. 

Other banners are welcome to express our progressive cause.  The Municipal ID committee will be marching with our contingent and will have a banner calling for:  Richmond Municipal IDs for everyone.

Click here for full sized leaflet

Homelessness:

The United States is exceptional in many ways, as proven again and again in science, technology, and world affairs since our nation's founding near the close of the 18th Century. However, now in the 21th Century, the U.S. faces challenges which frustrate the legendary American qualities to which we attribute much of our success: Individualism, hard work, liberty, justice, and economic opportunity.

One of America's biggest challenges is homelessness, which is exceptional compared to other wealthy, industrialized countries.

A recent article by David Morris in his blog "Defending the Public Good" shows how the U.S. stacks up against other countries in a number of income distribution, health, and social categories, including homelessness. Here is  one of several charts collected by Morris.

Why is there so much homelessness in America? Morris offers an historical perspective and suggests that America's "lucky" history and ill-informed belief in American superiority has not prepared the country for the tough times it now confronts. Other countries have many fewer homeless than the U.S., measured per capita and in absolute terms.

Morris points out that in order to help their low-income citizens other rich countries "have designed most of their social benefits to be universal... unlike here where residents have to prostrate themselves before bureaucrats to validate their penury before they are grudgingly doled out ever-smaller and temporary amounts of assistance."

As the above article shows  David Morris: The Real American Exceptionalism: Defending the Public Good contains some startling graphs that show that America is #1 in quite a few ways that it shouldn't be.  And there is a connection.

Click here for more graphs and references on everything from CEO pay, to prisoners, to healthcare.

Click here for the David Morris article.

Shorts 

Saturday, April 30,   9 a.m.

San Francisco Bay Trail Landfill Loop - Grand Opening - 9:00 a.m.

Come out Saturday, April 30 to celebrate the grand opening of a new 4 mile segment of the San Francisco Bay Trail in Richmond. Cyclists will meet at The Plunge (Richmond Municipal Natatorium) at 8:00 a.m. for a bicycle parade to the new trail. The 9 a.m. ribbon cutting ceremony at the foot of Parr Blvd. will be followed by hikes around the loop, and lunch in the afternoon. For directions see the event flyer here.  

Saturday, April 30 

RYSE's fund raiser:  "Be a Kid"

Workshops 6:30 p.m.  Dance Party 8 p.m.

RYSE Center, 205 41^st St

Click here for information and tickets .

Tuesday, May 3,

March & Rally at Wells Fargo's Annual Shareholders Meeting

Buses leaving from Richmond  (510 Macdonald)   10 a.m.

Justin Herman Plaza (Embarcadero & Market Streets, San Francisco) 11:30 a.m
 
Banks that owe their recovery to taxpayer bailouts in turn owe it to those very taxpayers to help them save their homes and get back to work.  It's only fair.
That's why hundreds of homeowners, workers and clergy will gather on May 3 for a march and rally at the Wells Fargo Annual Shareholders Gathering in downtown San Francisco.  We will take our message straight to the bank leadership, calling on them to pay their fair share and act now to keep families in their homes, stop predatory lending, and stop profiting from detaining immigrant communities.  Sponsored by ACCE, CCISCO, SEIU 1021.   (510) 866-5032

 

In a swirling, misty wet wind, courtesy of the Pacific ocean, we stood across the street from the Masonic Auditorium atop Nob Hill in San Francisco. There were only a few hundred of us huddled up against, Grace Cathedral bundled up and shivering, but we were there nonetheless. With us was the growing gulf between "Haves" and "Have-nots" that has gone unchecked by this administration which began with such hope.

I remember the night President Obama was elected. I was watching the returns in a deli standing next to an African American women in a wheelchair. She was beaming. I could see in her eyes that she felt that she was at the end of a very long road. She seemed to be feeling a huge joy in that she lived to see a black man elected president of the United States. I have to admit that I shared much of that joy and a part of me was very hopeful. However, I'm also pretty jaded after a half century of watching the political process in our nation. There was a voice inside that kept reminding me that no matter how good a person Barak Obama is, or how good his intentions were, he is just one man. He would be a single person in a morass of corporate dollar bought influence, greed based power and policy making for the elite. I knew, but did not want to acknowledge, that the election of Barak Obama would change very little beyond rhetoric, because that is all the Democrats seem to be able to offer. They were, and still are, very long on rhetoric and short on spine. Two years into this administration we have seen a lot of lip service but little action. In fact, we have gone backwards in many ways. The honeymoon is over. We on the progressive left must stand up and be heard. We have been taken for granted long enough.  Read More

Rob Ham

4/20/11

Click here for the Soccer Clinic Flyer in English           

Click here for the Flyer in Spanish