Alliance Members Generate Summer Heat on Social Security, Medicare
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With Labor Day approaching, the Alliance for Retired Americans is wrapping up more than 70 actions in more than two dozen states around the country this summer. The events have ranged from celebrating the anniversaries and successes of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid to holding accountable presidential candidates and lawmakers.
In Las Cruces, N.M., Alliance members told Rep. Steve Pearce (R), who wants to privatize Medicare and force seniors to pay for health care with an underfunded voucher program, that if he really believed in privatization, he should drop his taxpayer-funded, government health coverage he receives as a member of Congress.
On the other hand, Alliance members, including Brenda Kelly Nelum from Dale City, Calif., joined House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to celebrate Medicare’s 46th anniversary. Said Nelum:
I just thought the public should know that this was the anniversary of a program that, as far as I can see, has been a success. If we didn’t have it, I don’t know if we could even afford our medicines….We would like to see the program there for younger people.
Seniors Fighting to Keep Social Security, Medicare from Budget Chopping Block
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Members of the Alliance for Retired Americans are sponsoring a series of events nationwide to let their lawmakers know the money working people depend on in Medicare and Social Security belongs to those who contributed to the programs, not to politicians in Washington who want to use it as a piggy bank. The events come as Social Security celebrates its 76th anniversary Aug. 14.
Declare a ‘Jobs Emergency’ Sept. 15
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On Sept. 15, workers, students and community and religious groups in dozens of cities across the country will revive one of the key demands of the 1963 “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom” by calling for full and fair employment and demanding the government declare a national “jobs emergency.”
Protestors will demand that Congress pass the Local Jobs for America Act, which would save or create 1 million jobs, extend emergency Temporary Assistance to Needy Families subsidized jobs program, extend emergency unemployment compensation and pass a financial speculation tax that would rein in the more destabilizing aspects of Wall Street and generate $200 billion to $500 billion annually.
Jobs with Justice (JwJ) is the main organizer of the protests. Activists are planning 120 very diverse actions across the country on Wednesday. You can join with JwJ and other activists to let our leaders know we will not be silent and that we demand good jobs now. You can see a complete list of actions and contacts by clicking here.
Now Is Time to Pass DREAM Act
In the highly competitive global economy, it doesn’t make sense to throw away the talents of our nation’s brightest and best high school graduates. But that’s exactly what we do every day by denying nearly 65,000 undocumented high school graduates a path to decent jobs and shutting the doors of higher education and the military to them.
The AFL-CIO Executive Council at its August meeting pointed out that these children—who were brought to this country by their parents—have grown up in the United States, attended local schools, and have demonstrated a sustained commitment to succeed in the educational system,. But immigration laws provide no avenue for these students to become legal residents.
Rather than being allowed to continue to excel in college as they have in high school, the Council statement said
These promising children will be forced into a job where they will have to either lie about their status, or work off the books. Neither outcome is just, nor is it good for our society.
The Development Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, would remedy this situation by allowing undocumented students who have lived in the United States for at least five years and have graduated from high school or received a graduate equivalency diploma (GED) to legalize their immigration status by pursuing a college education or serving in the U.S. military.
California Veterans, Union Members Want Employee Free Choice
A coalition of veterans who are union members and other supporters of the freedom to form unions are gathering today in Los Angeles to send a strong message: Pass the Employee Free Choice Act now to give veterans the chance they need for a better life.
Organized by the L.A. County Federation of Labor, these union veterans will rally outside the office of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, urging her and all of California’s members of Congress to vote for the Employee Free Choice Act to restore workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain.
As part of the rally, these veterans and workers will debut a new video that shows why veterans need the Employee Free Choice Act. This video includes testimony from a number of veterans who spoke at an April town hall meeting in Los Angeles attended by Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis.
