Missouri Jobs with Justice Says Vote NO on Proposition A. I agree

Supporters of the bill are flat out falsely claiming that this will make it easier to get a civilian review board, even though the ballot language explicitly prevents this.  Jobs with Justice, and pretty much all of the activists who have worked on this issue for over 10 years, are opposed to the phony version of "local control" expressed in Proposition A.  The people pushing this bill are working for multi-millionaire right-wing extremist Rex Sinquefield, who sees Missouri as his personal chess board.  Here's the text of the message from Missouri JWJ:

Jobs with Justice has supported local control of the St. Louis City Police Department, collective bargaining rights for police officers, and a civilian review board for our neighbors for over a decade.

However, the current ballot initiative proposing local control of the police unnecessarily undermines the power of a civilian review board and threatens good community/police relations.

Therefore we endorse a NO vote on Prop A, but continue to support other efforts to return control of the St. Louis City Police Department in a way that protects the rights of our police force and our neighbors by protecting collective bargaining rights for officers and the establishment of a civilian review board for our city. For more information check out: www.citizensagainstpropa.com.


Proposition A

Official Ballot Title:

    Shall Missouri law be amended to:
However, the current ballot initiative proposing local control of the police unnecessarily undermines the power of a civilian review board and threatens good community/police relations.

Therefore we endorse a NO vote on Prop A, but continue to support other efforts to return control of the St. Louis City Police Department in a way that protects the rights of our police force and our neighbors by protecting collective bargaining rights for officers and the establishment of a civilian review board for our city. For more information check out: www.citizensagainstpropa.com.


Proposition A

Official Ballot Title:

    Shall Missouri law be amended to:
Therefore we endorse a NO vote on Prop A, but continue to support other efforts to return control of the St. Louis City Police Department in a way that protects the rights of our police force and our neighbors by protecting collective bargaining rights for officers and the establishment of a civilian review board for our city. For more information check out: www.citizensagainstpropa.com.


Proposition A

Official Ballot Title:

    Shall Missouri law be amended to:

Proposition A
Official Ballot Title:
    Shall Missouri law be amended to:
 allow any city not within a county (the City of St. Louis) the option of transferring certain obligations and control of the city’s police force from the board of police commissioners currently appointed by the governor to the city and establishing a municipal police force;
establish certain procedures and requirements for governing such a municipal police force including residency, rank, salary, benefits, insurance, and pension; and
prohibit retaliation against any employee of such municipal police force who reports conduct believed to be illegal to a superior, government agency, or the press?
    State governmental entities estimated savings will eventually be up to $500,000 annually. Local governmental entities estimated annual potential savings of $3.5 million; however, consolidation decisions with an unknown outcome may result in the savings being more or less than estimated.

For the Full Text of Proposition A, visit this page on this Secretary of State's website. For the Fair Ballot Language, visit this page on the Secretary of State's website. To see the full list of MO JwJ's recommendations on this election's Propositions and Amendments, click here.

Rally At Roy Blunt's Office To Save Social Security and Medicare

Hundreds of activists gathered on Thursday outside of Roy Blunt's office to tell the Senator that Missourians don't want budget issues to be used as a cheap excuse to push through the Republicans' dream of cutting Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Polls have consistently shown that people overwhelmingly support keeping the social safety net in place and are in favor of allowing tax breaks for the uber-wealthy to expire. That is the responsible way to balance the budget.

Here are some photos from the rally taken by activist Brenda Ringo:


A press advisory for the event (I changed the tense):

ST. LOUIS – As Congress works to balance the budget and reduce the deficit, hundreds of Missourians rallied Thursday at 4:30 p.m. outside of Senator Roy Blunt’s (R-MO) Clayton office to tell him how his commitment to protect Corporate America and the wealthiest Americans will harm his constituents across the state of Missouri. Senator Blunt has publicly stated that he will not support measures to raise the revenue in order to confront budgetary issues; including closing corporate tax loopholes and increasing taxes on millionaires. Instead, he continues to support plans that will drastically cut funding to Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, and federal workers that provide critical services to Americans.

Senator Blunt stated that ending tax breaks and closing loopholes would not be fair to those who rely on them. Thursday, Missourians had a chance to reply to Senator Blunt with their message about what “fair” means to average Missouri citizens. Monica Williams, a Paraquad Community Advocate, spoke about how Medicaid is her lifeline to freedom and independence in the community since it provides her personal care attendant. “Medicaid enables me to go to work and be a productive citizen” she stated. “Taking away my opportunity to live independently and work in the community is not fair.”

Others spoke about how cutting critical programs will harm the seniors, people with disabilities, and working- and middle-class families that rely on them. Reverend Susan Sneed of Metropolitan Congregations United stated “balancing the federal budget on the backs of vulnerable Americans is never the answer. We promised our seniors that if they pay their taxes and paid into Social Security and Medicare, these programs would be there for them when they needed them. Rather than cutting critical programs, we must look for balanced budget solutions that uphold our American values, require all individuals and corporations to contribute their fair share, and ensure that all Americans have access to the basic services they need.”

Attendees signed a petition to Missouri’s Senators that states, "We urge you to stand strong and protect Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security and the federal workers who deliver our essential services. A cut to our federal budget and workforce is a cut to Missouri. We have sacrificed enough. Now, we urge you to raise revenues. It's time for the rich and big corporations to pay their fair share. We do not accept that there have to be spending caps, cuts to essential services or balanced budget amendments."

"It is absolutely critical that our efforts to reduce the deficit are balanced solutions that include new revenue,” said Kirsten Dunham of Paraquad. "We are very concerned that Congress will try to impose global spending caps or a balanced budget amendment that may sound good on the surface, but which over time would require drastically cutting Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid and other services that Americans value."

Organizers of the rally were the American Federation of Government Employees, Missouri Jobs with Justice, Metropolitan Congregations United, Missouri Health Care for All, Missouri Budget Project, GRO - Grass Roots Organizing, Missouri Pro-Vote, the Alliance of Retired Americans, Paraquad and the Disability Coalition on Health Care Reform. Representatives from each organization delivered the petition to Senator Blunt's staff during the rally.

Hotflash at Show Me Progress has more from the rally, including this great video of leaders sharing their concerns with with Blunt's staff:

Broad Coalition of Missourians Call on Senator McCaskill to Protect Critical Services, Health, & Retirement Programs (PHOTOS)

From the press release:

ST. LOUIS – As Congress works to balance the budget and reduce the deficit, hundreds of Missourians rallied today in front of Senator Claire McCaskill's (D-MO) office to urge her to protect Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and workers who provide services that are critical to the safety and well-being of Americans. During the rally, Senator McCaskill met with representatives from the American Federation of Government Employees, Missouri Jobs with Justice, Paraquad, Missouri Budget Project, Metropolitan Congregations United, GRO-Grass Roots Organizing, Missouri Health Care for All, and Missouri Pro-Vote.

At the rally the Reverend Susan Sneed of Metropolitan Congregations United spoke of the importance of Medicare to her efforts to provide care for her elderly mother, stating that “balancing the federal budget on the backs of vulnerable Americans is never the answer. We promised our seniors that if they their taxes and paid into Social Security and Medicare, these programs would be there for them when they needed them. Rather than cutting critical programs, we must look for balanced budget solutions that uphold our American values, require all individuals and corporations to contribute their fair share, and ensure that all Americans have access to the basic services they need.” Monica Williams of Paraquad went on to add that Medicaid is her life line to independence since it provides her personal care attendant.

"It is absolutely critical that our efforts to reduce the deficit are balanced solutions that include new revenue,” said Ruth Ehresman of the Missouri Budget Project. "We are very concerned that Congress will try to impose global spending caps or a balanced budget amendment that may sound good on the surface, but which over time would require drastically cutting Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid and other services that Americans value."

The general public was asked to sign a petition to Missouri’s Senators that read, "We urge you to stand strong and protect Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security and the federal workers who deliver our essential services. A cut to our federal budget and workforce is a cut to Missouri. We have sacrificed enough. Now, we urge you to raise revenues. It's time for the rich and big corporations to pay their fair share. We do not accept that there have to be spending caps, cuts to essential services or balanced budget amendments."

Organizers of the rally were the American Federation of Government Employees, Missouri Jobs with Justice, Metropolitan Congregations United, Missouri Health Care for All, Missouri Budget Project, GRO - Grass Roots Organizing, Missouri Pro-Vote, Paraquad and the Disability Coalition on Health Care Reform.

Rally Against Attacks on the Middle Class

Yesterday, I attended a rally with the AFL-CIO, SEIU, St. Louis Jobs with Justice, and other awesome local groups in St. Louis. The rally was in solidarity with Wisconsin, and about 70 people attended and then went on to canvass and make phone calls. Some firefighters also made an appearance to show their solidarity. The focus in Missouri is a little different than in Wisconsin, but the differences and similarities are instructive.

First, since almost everyone realizes that unions were responsible for creating the American middle class (giving us weekends and overtime pay and ending child labor practices), one argument the anti-worker pro-corporate forces often give is that "unions were once valuable, but now they're no longer needed because we have laws protecting workers." This is laughable not only because current laws are much more friendly to corporations than to workers, but also because it ignores what would happen if unions were destroyed by the Right. All one has to do is look at Missouri, where certain groups are organizing to try to roll back the minimum wage law passed by a 3 to 1 margin by Missouri voters only a few years ago, to roll back child labor laws, and to end protections against discrimination, to see what the ultimate agenda is. If unions are destroyed or significantly weakened, the Right will waste no time in rolling back every single step of progress the unions have fought so hard for, including weekends, overtime, etc. In fact, they are doing so already.

This is why it's so important to stand with workers in Wisconsin, Missouri, and all across the United States. The end game for the corporate right is the complete destruction of worker's rights, where nothing will stand in the way of maximizing corporate profits and increasing the wealth of a very small group.

So with that in mind, it was heartening to see the rallies yesterday. MoveOn.org out-organized the anti-worker groups in Jefferson City while unions were hard at work in Kansas City and St. Louis. The people are on the side of the workers, and the more they are educated about what's really going on, the stronger their support will be.

Anyway, here's a nice press release from yesterday's St. Louis rally that explains what the rally was all about:

Working Missourians Stand Together as One Against Attacks on the Middle Class

Unity rally for solidarity with workers in Wisconsin, Indiana and Ohio and canvass to save our minimum wage

On Saturday, February 26, working Missourians held a rally and canvass in St. Louis to stand in solidarity with the people of Wisconsin defending against attacks on the middle class. All across the country, working people facing these types of attacks are standing together in solidarity with Wisconsin families and to protect their own basic rights being threatened by the politics as usual.

“Working people voted to create jobs, but politicians bankrolled by corporate CEOs are up to the same old tired politics. Instead of focusing on jobs, they’re trying to weaken or eliminate workers’ freedom to join unions so they can’t serve as a check on corporate greed to restore balance. What’s going on in Wisconsin is not an isolated event--these attacks are sweeping the nation. In Missouri, voters approved raising the minimum wage by a 3 to 1 margin, but politicians are set to give the lowest paid workers in the state a pay cut.

Rather than creating jobs, too many of our elected officials are pushing a laundry list of attacks on working people. Minimum wage, a push to repeal child labor laws and “right to work for less legislation” are legislative priorities of out of control Wall Street banks and corporate CEOs, not Missouri voters.

Jobs with Justice and community groups, small business owners and workers who provide vital services to local communities will share their stories and concerns about the partisan political assault on working families in Missouri and demand our elected officials instead focus on creating good jobs.

And here's some coverage from Fox 2 News:
 


Update: Looks like the tea party rallies were even worse than reported. From the photos, it looks like they had less than 50 people.

Kick off for Felon's economic rights organization.

The first meeting of Full Citizen will be held on January 22 1 PM at t3026 Cherokee, St. Louis Mo. 63118
The purpose of Full Citizen will be to provide a path back to full citizenship for felons. I say path because it will not, cannot,and should not be and instant process. Regardless of the circumstances that caused one to break the law the public has a reasonable distrust of felons and felons must earn back the trust of the community.

Currently there are approximately nine million felons nationwide.

Under our current system a felon is prohibited from being licensed for 64 professions for life. The felon with a drug offense cannot get federally underwritten school loans for life. The felon cannot get federal school loans for life. The felon cannot get business loans from federally insured banks for life. The felon cannot get a mortgage for life.(Romona says I am wrong on this one but as a Realtor that was my understanding) Thus all of the paths to wealth in our society have been permanently denied to the felon.

Thus a felon has two choices. He or she can live in poverty or he/she can re-offend in the hopes of the big score. Felons younger than thirty frequently re-offend and older than thirty generally settle down into minimum wage part time poverty.

The children of these felons suffer from a variety of social ills. Single parent homes and sometimes no parent homes. Raised by Aunties who may be holding down two part time jobs they have little supervision and even less in the way of successful role models. The sentencing project says that two in three black boys age ten predict they will go to prison. The boys prediction is both logical and self fulfilling.

So the goal is to give parents a route to success and give children a positive role models and a rational expectation of their own success.

To do this voters must be educated to change the law for the interest of those effected and for the interest of society as a whole. Full citizen will utilize video journalism, blogging, and community activism to make a wholesale change to the laws of Missouri and eventually to the laws of all fifty states.

This is a tremendously worthwhile group. Nine million adults and untold numbers of children can be effected. The economic and social cost which can be alleviated are staggering. We desperately need your minds and your labor to correct the injustice which currently guarantees a permanent underclass.

If you have any interest please contact me at Mark.Magas@gmail.com or call 314-497-6475, and if you know how to create an event on Facebook that would be a great start.

In Surprise Upset, Pinnacle Entertainment Overtakes Rex Sinquefield for Scrooge of the Year!

Heading into yesterday's Scrooge of the Year Party hosted by St. Louis Jobs with Justice, it looked like Rex Sinquefield would run away with the title after his successful effort to threaten St. Louis and Kansas City governments with the elimination of the earnings tax. Sinquefield had over 400 votes, and only one of the other candidates had even reached 100 votes. However, Unite Here stepped up to the plate for their candidate, Pinnacle Entertainment, who muttered a giant "Bah Humbug!" while stomping on the rights of workers who had voted to unionize earlier in the year.

The St. Louis Tea Party Leadership (hmmm, wonder who might have nominated them) finished a distant third.

Results from the JwJ website:

Pinnacle Entertainment beat out Rex with a whopping 2544 votes!
Rex Sinquefield was the first loser with a solid 1910 votes!
St. Louis Tea Party Leadership finished in 3rd place with 505 votes!
Senator Roy Blunt elected 4th place with 370 votes!
Peabody Coal finished 5th with 279 votes
Write-in Candidate Riverview Garden’s District Superintendent Clive Coleman finished in 5th place with a respectable 143 votes.

It was a great event with lots of local celebrity organizers and activists in attendance. If you didn't make it this year, you should definitely put it on your calendar for next year and remember to VOTE!

Check out some pictures of the party below the jump:

St. Louis Activist Hub Radio Series- Show #1

As some of you may know, we now have a weekly St. Louis Activist Hub radio show. We've had a host of awesome shows, with discussions of health care, climate change, the G-20 protests, the National Equality March, and many more topics. We'll be uploading podcasts of the shows on this blog as we get them, so please check out the shows online and let me know if you have any suggestions. The full team for the shows are Todd, Kevin, Jacob, Adam, and Hannah.

First Show: Health Care Discussion with Amy Smoucha

This show was from a few weeks ago and is a good primer on the basic ideas of health care reform, such as single-payer, the public option, and reconciliation. Of course, a lot of the politics has changed since then, but this gives a good sense of what the issues are and what is being done in the St. Louis region.

Our guest was Amy Smoucha, the health care organizer from Missouri Jobs with Justice.




Click here if player doesn't appear.