St. Paul, MN – Chanting, “Hey Pawlenty here’s the fix: Tax the rich, tax the rich,” more than 50 people rallied in front of the Governor’s Mansion here, June 30 to slam Governor Pawlenty’s plan to cut hundreds of millions from health care, education, local government aid and human services. The protest was organized by the Welfare Rights Committee and backed by the Minnesota Coalition for a People’s Bailout.

Asheville, NC – People from all over western North Carolina protested here in Pritchard Park, June 27, to demand a single payer system in which health care is provided to all people, with those able to paying their fair share.

Minneapolis, MN – On Thursday, June 25, friends and supporters gathered at the home of Rosemary Williams to plan for action after getting devastating news. That morning, in a conference call, Judge Lloyd Zimmerman sided with finance giant GMAC and against Ms. Williams, who has been engaged in an epic battle to save her home. Attorneys for Ms. Williams tried to appeal the judge’s earlier ruling which had denied a trial in the foreclosure related eviction. Judge Zimmerman ruled that for an appeal to take place, Rosemary Williams would have to come up with a $49,000 ‘bond’ in two days.

Commentary

No End in Sight for Working People

In the six months since the financial crisis exploded with the collapse of New York investment bank Lehman Brothers, the world economy has been gripped by the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. U.S. and European banks have admitted a trillion dollars in losses, while the banking system of Iceland totally collapsed. Almost all of the major economies of the world, with the exception of China, have started to contract, with millions of workers losing their jobs and businesses going bankrupt right and left. Hardest hit for now are the new capitalist economies of eastern Europe, who are being slammed by their dependence on borrowing from foreign bankers, falling exports and plunging currencies.

St. Paul, MN – Leaders of the Minnesota Coalition for a People’s Bailout responded to the state budget forecast, March 3. The forecast anticipates a $4 billion deficit, despite the billions that will flow in from the federal stimulus.

San Jose, CA – Latest figures from the Federal Reserve show that the basic measure of the country’s money, or M-1, rose by $100 billion in the last three months of 2008. M-1 includes coins, paper money and checking deposits, which are all used to buy goods and services and also serve as a store of wealth. This increase in money in only three months comes to an almost 25% annual rate of increase in money.

San Jose, CA – On Jan. 29 the IRS released a report on the country’s 400 richest taxpayers in 2006. The report found that this group paid only 17.2% of their adjusted gross income in federal income taxes, despite making an average of more than $263 million each that year. This was the lowest rate for the entire time (15 years) that there are records.

When the House of Representatives bowed to popular anger and defeated the Bush administration’s $700 billion bailout bill on Sept. 29, 2008, Wall Street was dealt a stunning defeat. The next day, the Senate took the same bill and loaded it up with $100 billion dollars of tax breaks (including one for makers of wooden arrows). The Senate passed the bill the next day, which went on to pass in the House on Oct. 3.

In January, both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will stop evicting tenants in foreclosed homes. Instead tenants will be able to stay on as renters. Both Fannie and Freddie were taken over by the government last year and have changed some policies to help slow the tidal wave of foreclosures and evictions. By allowing tenants to stay on, the blight of abandoned foreclosed homes will be lessened, and families who rent will not be uprooted from their schools and communities.

Three-month Job Loss Worst Since Great Depression

San Jose, CA – On Feb. 6 the Labor Department reported that 598,000 jobs were lost in January and at the same time revised upwards their report on job losses for November and December. The January report marked the first time since 1939 that the economy has lost more than a half a million jobs for three months in a row. The economy has now lost more than 3.5 million jobs since the recession began in December 2007; half the job losses have been in the last three months alone.

St. Paul, MN – The Minnesota People’s Bailout legislation was introduced in the Minnesota State Senate and House, Feb. 9. Authored by Senator David J. Tomassoni (D-Chisholm), and Representative David Bly (D-Northfield) the Minnesota People’s Bailout Act is a legislative attempt to protect the interests of low-income and working Minnesotans from the worst effects of the deepening economic crisis in Minnesota and the nation.

'Don’t balance the budget on the backs of the poor!'

Raleigh, NC – Over 4000 people, the majority African American, marched in downtown Raleigh, Feb. 14, in a show of force organized by the North Carolina NAACP. This is the third year that “HK on J” (Historic Thousands on Jones Street) has taken place, bringing together over 85 grassroots organizations, trade unions, coalitions and churches around a 14-point program for change. The 14-point program is centered around addressing the needs of the African American community, low-income people, immigrants rights and ending the war.

St. Paul, MN – The Welfare Rights Committee testified Feb. 18, in front of the Senate Health and Human Services Budget division. The Welfare Rights Committee slammed Governor Pawlenty’s MFIP (Minnesota’s welfare program for families) provisions. A statement from the Committee hit the following proposals:

San Jose, CA – Representatives of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives agreed upon a compromise economic package Feb. 11 totaling $789 billion in federal spending and tax cuts over the next two years. The bill is expected to quickly pass the House and Senate and be signed into law by President Obama within the next week.

Will It Get the Economy Going?

San José, CA – On Jan. 7, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that the federal budget deficit for this fiscal year (October 2008 to September 2009) would be $1.2 trillion. But the CBO estimate only counted the $68 billion approved for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, when they actually cost more than $186 billion in 2008. Given that the wars will cost at least another $100 billion, the federal budget deficit will be $1.3 trillion, or even more if the economy worsens more than expected. This estimated deficit is almost 10% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which measures the value of all the goods and services* produced in the United States in a year, and would be the biggest deficit since World War II.

_ 2.5 Million Jobs Lost in 2008, the Most Since 1945_

San José, CA – On Friday, Jan. 9, the Department of Labor reported that 524,000 jobs were lost in December. With even more jobs losses in November than estimated last month, 2008 was the worst year for jobs since 1945, with more than 2.5 million jobs lost. The official unemployment rate rose by one-half of one percent, to 7.2% from 6.7% in November. This is the highest unemployment rate since 1992. The measure of underemployment, which includes people working part-time because full-time jobs are not available and workers who gave up looking for work or didn’t look last month, rose by almost a full percentage point to 13.5%. With more and more part-time workers, the average number of hours worked in a week fell to the lowest level since records began in 1964.