Working Families Vote 2008 > John McCain Reveal
PBS Series Looks at How Inequality Is Making Us Sick
2008 Health Care For America Survey
The Revolution Will Be Weatherized
2008 Political Futures — Slate
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Monday, March 24, 2008
The Wire for 3/24/08
1 motorcyclist killed another injured in crash with truck
This article concerns the death of John Jarreau, 6 years the President of IUPAT Local 1010. John was on his way to help pack packages that are going to our combat troops. John will not be forgotten, details of a memorial will follow
Home sales, prices keep falling in Brevard
Crist conversal appointee quits
Just no simple way to end tax breaks
Sen. Lynn says she'll continue her FSU job without pay
Florida Dems May Hear More in Two Weeks
New casino ship to hire a local crew
The Mecca of the Mouse
Home sales, prices keep falling in Brevard
Crist conversal appointee quits
Just no simple way to end tax breaks
Sen. Lynn says she'll continue her FSU job without pay
Florida Dems May Hear More in Two Weeks
New casino ship to hire a local crew
The Mecca of the Mouse
Friday, March 21, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Space Coast AFL-CIO Action Alerts
Action Alerts for 3/20/08
Vote for Elaine Chao's Dirtiest Deeds
JOBS WITH JUSTICE NATIONAL CONFERENCE
May 2-4, 2008 in Providence, Rhode Island
Florida Rights Restoration Coalition Announces Day of Action, April 1
Citizens Call for Truly Automatic Civil Rights Restoration Process and Removal of Employment Barriers
Vote for Elaine Chao's Dirtiest Deeds
JOBS WITH JUSTICE NATIONAL CONFERENCE
May 2-4, 2008 in Providence, Rhode Island
Florida Rights Restoration Coalition Announces Day of Action, April 1
Citizens Call for Truly Automatic Civil Rights Restoration Process and Removal of Employment Barriers
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
The bwire 3/18/08
The wire for 3/18/08
Airing out Crist's health care plan
Labor's Generation Gap
County's dealings with secret firm highly unusual
Making Legal Representation Affordable
Can't Afford to Get Sick
The following is a column Amy Tidd wrote and sent to Florida Today almost two weeks ago. It has not yet been published, so I wanted to send it out to you so that you know what is happening in Tallahassee. Note this seems to be a problem with Florida Today, if any other voices of reason have a problem getting published please forward to spacecoastaflcio@ sharkeykevin@yahoo.com. Maybe our standards aren't as high, or maybe more liberal.
State Republican legislators playing reverse Robin Hood, Hurting the working class in order to preserve tax cuts for the rich.
On March 6, according to Florida Today the Republican House leaders cut $542 million from the 2007/2008 annual budget to balance the tax revenue shortfall. Despite their pledge last year to hold education harmless, the first item on the cutting block was our public schools system, with our public schools losing about $55 per student according to the Orlando Sentinel. Our universities have had their financial aid programs cut and many students will have to drop out. With our economy faltering, education is the key to a better workforce and more business revenue. When America invested in education after WWII. with programs like the GI bill, our educated workforce brought a new prosperity to America.
Why are we short on tax revenue? One of the reasons is that in 2006 the Republican legislature voted to repeal the intangibles tax, a tax on the wealthiest citizens that brought in $600 million a year. They quoted people like Randall Holcombe from the James Madison Institute who said, “ The intangible tax raises a relatively small amount of revenue.” And, “If the tax was completely eliminated, state governmental expenditures would still increase because the revenues lost would be more than replaced by the normal growth in the state’s other revenue sources.”
Today these ideas have proven to be false. The amount that this small tax on the wealthy brought in would more than cover the budget shortfalls for this year, and the state’s other revenue sources have fallen, not risen. The only thing that has risen have been the for sale signs and the home foreclosures due to the rise in home insurance and taxes.
Because of these Republican ideas that have been proven to be false, our state is now at a crossroads where some new ideas are necessary for Florida to prosper. We need to stop cutting the taxes of the rich by robbing our youth of their future. We need a change of course from the Republican lead recession that is facing our state.
Broadening the tax base with ideas like Former Florida Senate President John McKay has proposed is a good start. He is chair of the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission which is meeting at the present time to look at tax reform items to be placed on the November 2008 ballot. One of his ideas to reform taxes is to eliminate the school tax portion of our homeowners’ bill by repealing the sales tax exemptions that lobbyists for the business community have gotten over the years. This would be a great step in the right direction. Florida should look out for the welfare of our citizens instead of giving sales tax exemptions for such luxuries as ostrich feed and sport complexes skyboxes. We need to lift the burden of our taxes from the average homeowner and spread out the responsibility so that we can invest in our future. Let us all work together to set a course for a new, prosperous future for all Floridians.
Amy Tidd, Chair, Brevard Democrats
Airing out Crist's health care plan
Labor's Generation Gap
County's dealings with secret firm highly unusual
Making Legal Representation Affordable
Can't Afford to Get Sick
The following is a column Amy Tidd wrote and sent to Florida Today almost two weeks ago. It has not yet been published, so I wanted to send it out to you so that you know what is happening in Tallahassee. Note this seems to be a problem with Florida Today, if any other voices of reason have a problem getting published please forward to spacecoastaflcio@ sharkeykevin@yahoo.com. Maybe our standards aren't as high, or maybe more liberal.
State Republican legislators playing reverse Robin Hood, Hurting the working class in order to preserve tax cuts for the rich.
On March 6, according to Florida Today the Republican House leaders cut $542 million from the 2007/2008 annual budget to balance the tax revenue shortfall. Despite their pledge last year to hold education harmless, the first item on the cutting block was our public schools system, with our public schools losing about $55 per student according to the Orlando Sentinel. Our universities have had their financial aid programs cut and many students will have to drop out. With our economy faltering, education is the key to a better workforce and more business revenue. When America invested in education after WWII. with programs like the GI bill, our educated workforce brought a new prosperity to America.
Why are we short on tax revenue? One of the reasons is that in 2006 the Republican legislature voted to repeal the intangibles tax, a tax on the wealthiest citizens that brought in $600 million a year. They quoted people like Randall Holcombe from the James Madison Institute who said, “ The intangible tax raises a relatively small amount of revenue.” And, “If the tax was completely eliminated, state governmental expenditures would still increase because the revenues lost would be more than replaced by the normal growth in the state’s other revenue sources.”
Today these ideas have proven to be false. The amount that this small tax on the wealthy brought in would more than cover the budget shortfalls for this year, and the state’s other revenue sources have fallen, not risen. The only thing that has risen have been the for sale signs and the home foreclosures due to the rise in home insurance and taxes.
Because of these Republican ideas that have been proven to be false, our state is now at a crossroads where some new ideas are necessary for Florida to prosper. We need to stop cutting the taxes of the rich by robbing our youth of their future. We need a change of course from the Republican lead recession that is facing our state.
Broadening the tax base with ideas like Former Florida Senate President John McKay has proposed is a good start. He is chair of the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission which is meeting at the present time to look at tax reform items to be placed on the November 2008 ballot. One of his ideas to reform taxes is to eliminate the school tax portion of our homeowners’ bill by repealing the sales tax exemptions that lobbyists for the business community have gotten over the years. This would be a great step in the right direction. Florida should look out for the welfare of our citizens instead of giving sales tax exemptions for such luxuries as ostrich feed and sport complexes skyboxes. We need to lift the burden of our taxes from the average homeowner and spread out the responsibility so that we can invest in our future. Let us all work together to set a course for a new, prosperous future for all Floridians.
Amy Tidd, Chair, Brevard Democrats
Monday, March 10, 2008
The Wire for 3/10/08
The Wire for3/10/08
Workers question quality after Halifax Health pay cuts
Brevard's jobless rate up in January
Angry Boeing supporters target McCain
An action request concerning Boeing Tanker bid
Salandra Benton-Hanna
Organizing Director
AFSCME Florida Council 79
3064 Highland Oaks Terrace
Tallahassee, Florida 32301
321-689-7127
> Date: Thu, 6 Mar 2008 06:58:54 -0800
> From: ronnie751
Subject: Fwd: FW: message sent to members
Hello Everyone,
> As many of you know the Air Force gave the contract
to build the Tankers to EADS. This is a huge slap in
the face of American workers. If Boeing would have
received this contract we would have been able to hire
more people into U nion paying jobs.
I am asking each of you to please take a moment to
read the e-mail below and respond to the White house
and to your Congress People and Senators. And pass it
along to the other Sisters and Brothers that you know;
we need to get the message out the we will not stand
for our tax dollars and jobs being sent out of our
country. It is important we make this a national issue of concern to all American
taxpayers.
In Unity,
Ronnie Behnke
US Government Sells Out America
To All American Citizens:
On February 29th 2008, the Department of Defense
chose Airbus and European workers over Boeing and American workers
for Air Force Tanker. This is the second largest military contract in US history!
44,000 family wage jobs will be lost to Europe: Jobs YOU will pay for
with YOUR taxes.
There have been protests by many concerned American citizens. However
Congress and The White House MUST see a nationwide outcry over this
ill-conceived decision.
We need ALL American citizens to send a message to their Senators,
Representatives and the White House.
Lookup your: US Senator here
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
US Congressional Representative here
http://www.house.gov/house/MemStateSearch.shtml
Boeing operates in 40 states and has suppliers in all 50 states of the
US. This decision by the Defense Acquisition Board adversely affects
every tax paying American.
The proud men and women who build the finest
aircraft in the world are asking for your help.
This betrayal of America will transfer $40 billion of technology, jobs,
military and economic security to our nation's rival
in the aerospace industry. It also places our national sovereignty
at risk by giving France and other Foreign decision makers power over
whether or not to produce our military hardware if they disagree with
military action by our government.
We ask that you cc Senator Patty Murray and Senator Maria Cantwell from
Washington State in your correspondence. We know you will have statements and questions of
your own.
Once again, thank you for your help as we try to> reverse this bad decision for America.
Some message examples include:
1) Our military hardware should be labeled "Made in
the U.S.A." NOT made in France
2) In the future, if France disagrees with our
military action will they continue to deliver our tankers?
3) With our economy teetering on the edge of
recession w hy would our government ship $40 billion worth of defense jobs
overseas?
4) It is wrong to give away America's aerospace manufacturing jobs at a
time when our nation has a record trade deficit?
5) With respect to the air refueling tanker contract, why did the U.S.
Air Force decide the location of the jobs created by the contract was of
no importance?
6) Why is the U.S. Government granting a $40 billion contract to Airbus
for Air Force tankers while filing charges on Airbus through the World
Trade Organization for unfair and illegal developmental subsidies?
These are the same type of subsidies used to create the very Airbus made
Tankers the US now wants to buy?
Email address as follows:
Email to the White House
To:comments@whitehouse.gov
cc Your Representative
> > Senator Patty Murray:
> > patty@murray.senate.gov
> > Senator Maria Cantwell
> > maria@cantwell.senate.gov
Senator Patty Murray of Washington State has included a Petition to sign.
Please log onto http://murray.senate.gov/tankers to sign the tanker petition.
If you also cc webmaster@iam751.org on what you
send, we can track the activity to ensure we are being effective in this effort.
> > Be sure to visit our web site at
> > http://www.iam751.org for up to date
> > information
> > FOR MORE INFORMATION email your questions to
> > edl@iam751.org
Workers question quality after Halifax Health pay cuts
Brevard's jobless rate up in January
Angry Boeing supporters target McCain
An action request concerning Boeing Tanker bid
Salandra Benton-Hanna
Organizing Director
AFSCME Florida Council 79
3064 Highland Oaks Terrace
Tallahassee, Florida 32301
321-689-7127
> Date: Thu, 6 Mar 2008 06:58:54 -0800
> From: ronnie751
Subject: Fwd: FW: message sent to members
Hello Everyone,
> As many of you know the Air Force gave the contract
to build the Tankers to EADS. This is a huge slap in
the face of American workers. If Boeing would have
received this contract we would have been able to hire
more people into U nion paying jobs.
I am asking each of you to please take a moment to
read the e-mail below and respond to the White house
and to your Congress People and Senators. And pass it
along to the other Sisters and Brothers that you know;
we need to get the message out the we will not stand
for our tax dollars and jobs being sent out of our
country. It is important we make this a national issue of concern to all American
taxpayers.
In Unity,
Ronnie Behnke
US Government Sells Out America
To All American Citizens:
On February 29th 2008, the Department of Defense
chose Airbus and European workers over Boeing and American workers
for Air Force Tanker. This is the second largest military contract in US history!
44,000 family wage jobs will be lost to Europe: Jobs YOU will pay for
with YOUR taxes.
There have been protests by many concerned American citizens. However
Congress and The White House MUST see a nationwide outcry over this
ill-conceived decision.
We need ALL American citizens to send a message to their Senators,
Representatives and the White House.
Lookup your: US Senator here
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
US Congressional Representative here
http://www.house.gov/house/MemStateSearch.shtml
Boeing operates in 40 states and has suppliers in all 50 states of the
US. This decision by the Defense Acquisition Board adversely affects
every tax paying American.
The proud men and women who build the finest
aircraft in the world are asking for your help.
This betrayal of America will transfer $40 billion of technology, jobs,
military and economic security to our nation's rival
in the aerospace industry. It also places our national sovereignty
at risk by giving France and other Foreign decision makers power over
whether or not to produce our military hardware if they disagree with
military action by our government.
We ask that you cc Senator Patty Murray and Senator Maria Cantwell from
Washington State in your correspondence. We know you will have statements and questions of
your own.
Once again, thank you for your help as we try to> reverse this bad decision for America.
Some message examples include:
1) Our military hardware should be labeled "Made in
the U.S.A." NOT made in France
2) In the future, if France disagrees with our
military action will they continue to deliver our tankers?
3) With our economy teetering on the edge of
recession w hy would our government ship $40 billion worth of defense jobs
overseas?
4) It is wrong to give away America's aerospace manufacturing jobs at a
time when our nation has a record trade deficit?
5) With respect to the air refueling tanker contract, why did the U.S.
Air Force decide the location of the jobs created by the contract was of
no importance?
6) Why is the U.S. Government granting a $40 billion contract to Airbus
for Air Force tankers while filing charges on Airbus through the World
Trade Organization for unfair and illegal developmental subsidies?
These are the same type of subsidies used to create the very Airbus made
Tankers the US now wants to buy?
Email address as follows:
Email to the White House
To:comments@whitehouse.gov
cc Your Representative
> > Senator Patty Murray:
> > patty@murray.senate.gov
> > Senator Maria Cantwell
> > maria@cantwell.senate.gov
Senator Patty Murray of Washington State has included a Petition to sign.
Please log onto http://murray.senate.gov/tankers to sign the tanker petition.
If you also cc webmaster@iam751.org on what you
send, we can track the activity to ensure we are being effective in this effort.
> > Be sure to visit our web site at
> > http://www.iam751.org for up to date
> > information
> > FOR MORE INFORMATION email your questions to
> > edl@iam751.org
Sunday, March 2, 2008
THE WIRE FOR 2/03/08
Brevard Democrats select delegates
Sea Ray to cut 350 jobs on Merritt Island
Thousands of jobs will be lost on Space Coast
Northrop lands tanker contract Move will add about 400 high-paying job
NASA probably won't build launchpads on the worst site imaginable
Florida Democrats Blast Haridopolos on Gator Job
Sea Ray to cut 350 jobs on Merritt Island
Thousands of jobs will be lost on Space Coast
Northrop lands tanker contract Move will add about 400 high-paying job
NASA probably won't build launchpads on the worst site imaginable
Florida Democrats Blast Haridopolos on Gator Job
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