Last week’s AFL-CIO Day of Action at the State Capitol was a resounding success. Approximately 1000 workers came to Phoenix to express their displeasure with our state’s Republican-controlled government and the six anti-worker bills still alive in the Legislature.

From the Huffington Post…

The statewide AFL-CIO called for a Day of Action on March 1, 2012 and bussed hundreds of workers to the capitol to talk with lawmakers, hear fiery speeches by union leaders and protest bills attacking labor rights.

Several speakers, including Arizona AFL-CIO Executive Director Rebekah Friend, called out the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and the Goldwater Institute as the creators of the union-busting bills SB1484, SB1485, SB1486, and SB1487, which are reminiscent of legislation in Wisconsin, Ohio, and other states.

Not to be satisfied with diminishing the strength of public sector unions, the Arizona Legislature is also considering bills that would reduce the minimum wage earned by tip workers and people under 20 years of age (HCR2056) and eliminate civil service protection for thousands of state workers (HB2571) .

Check out the links (above) to the six bills, and you will find that four of Southern Arizona’s Republican legislators are sponsors of these anti-worker bills– Frank Antenori, Terri Proud, Al Melvin, and David Gowan. (None of the Democratic Party legislators have voted to move these bills forward.)

If you’re represented by Republicans in the Legislature, call them and tell them that you’re tired of them representing ALEC and the Goldwater Institute, instead of  Arizona residents. Antenori should really be put on the hot seat for this, since he wants to be Southern Arizona’s representative in Congress, replacing Gabrielle Giffords. Southern Arizona doesn’t need an ALEC puppet as a representative.

Here’s a link to the rest of the story.
Arizona Unionists Rally Against Anti-Labor Bills, 1000 Strong

The Arizona AFL-CIO has organized a Day of Action for March 1. Four bus-loads of union members and supporters are descending upon the state capitol in Phoenix on Thursday.

But will this Thursday be Arizona’s “Wisconsin moment” or will union members politely wander the halls of the Legislature and ask the wingnuts  legislators to play nice?

Annually, the AFL-CIO has a lobby day when unionists meet with lawmakers, but this year’s lobby day will have a twist– thanks to six anti-worker bills winding their way through the Arizona Legislature. After the four bus-loads of unionists go the capitol and say to people like Senator Frank Antenori (who wants to be our Congressman), “WTF?”, they will have a rally at 1 p.m. on the Arizona State Capitol, House Lawn, 1700 W. Washington St.

From Rebeka Friend, executive director of the Arizona AFL-CIO.

Corporate politicians are pushing these bills to scapegoat working families and fulfill their extreme, right-wing agenda—to the detriment of our schools and the health and safety of our communities.These bills are not about the budget and they’re not about jobs. They’re about satisfying deep-pocketed donors and right-wing organizations like the Goldwater Institute and the American Legislative Exchange Council to further their political agenda to help the 1%.

For background on the status of the anti-worker bills check this link.

This is not just a union fight. This is a worker fight, since four bills attack unions, one attacks civil servants, and another attacks people who make tips and those 20 years old and under. And, let’s not forget the anti-college student bill that would require all college students– regardless of income– to pay at least $2000 of their tuition. No free rides.

This collection of abominable bills is an onslaught against all Arizonans. Be there. If you can’t be there, call and/or e-mail your state representatives or senators.

John Nichols, well-known writer for The Nation and author of Uprising: How Wisconsin Renewed the Politics of Protest from Madison to Wall Street, will speak tonight, Feb. 27 at the IBEW Hall in Tucson.

Nichols comes to Arizona as our state faces its Wisconsin moment. With six anti-labor bills being considered in the Arizona Legislature and protests have been planned for the State Capitol in Phoenix on Thursday, March 1.

Although the Arizona AFL-CIO is busing union members from around the state to the capitol for the Day of Action, the bills in the Legislature go beyond union-busting. Four bills attack collective bargaining, union dues collection, and organizing. One bill– promoted by Republican Governor Jan Brewer– would strip civil service protections from non-union employees and pave the way for the appointment of political cronies. The last bill would put a measure on the 2012 ballot to reduce pay for tip workers and people 20 years old and under.

What a fitting time in Arizona history to hear from someone who was on the ground in Wisconsin a year ago when workers rose up against union-busting and corporate control of government. This free event is sponsored jointly by the Progressive Democrats of America Tucson Chapter (PDA) and the Pima Area Labor Federation (PALF) and will be at the IBEW Hall, 750 S. Tucson Blvd. from 6-8 p.m.

Six anti-labor bills are winding their way through the Arizona Legislature– four target unions, making collective bargaining illegal and outlawing union dues deductions from paychecks; one would strip civil service protections from 29,000 state employees, allowing the governor to fire civil servants and hire her pals; and the last is a ballot initiative which would lower the minimum wage for tip workers (because $4.65/hour is such an extravagant salary) and lower the minimum wage for people 20 years old and under.

The union bills were dubbed “worse than Wisconsin”, but then the governor and legislature add the other two bills on top. When those guys decide to decimate the middle class, they don’t mess around.

What’s a person to do? Call and/or e-mail your legislators… NOW. Here’s the Senate membership list. Here’s the House membership list.  In addition to calling your own legislators, I also urge anyone who lives in the new CD2 (Gabby Giffords’ reformulated district) to call Senator Frank Antenori, since he wants to be our new Congressman. (Shudder.)

In addition to calling, union leaders are organizing a day of action on March 1 at the capitol and have an online petition, but the anti-labor laws will affect all of us. We– the 99%– are in this together. Pick up that phone.

For background on the anti-union and anti-civil service bills, check out this story:
Arizona’s New Labor Bills Called ‘Worse Than Wisconsin’

For more coverage of the union forum (video above) and the anti-minimum wage bill, check out this story:
Arizona Workers Mobilize As Legislators Debate Anti-Labor Laws

Loneprotestor chronicles the rise and fall of Russell Pearce in 5 minutes.

This video is a tribute to the organizing skills of Randy Parraz and the grassroots Citizens for a Better Arizona, who spent the entire summer gathering over 18,000 signatures to force the recall election of Arizona state senate president Russell Pearce. Pearce’s claim to fame was as a sponsor of the ALEC-written SB 1070, the infamous “papers, please,” law requiring anyone stopped by police for any reason to produce proof of citizenship. Now that we’ve seen Pearce’s backside, guess who might be next?

Given: System-wide, US healthcare costs have been on an upward trajectory for decades.

Given: The #1 reason Americans go bankrupt is that they cannot pay their medical bills.

Given: As we grow older, our healthcare (and health insurance) costs increase.

Given: Baby Boomers are entering their Golden Years, and between 2010 and 2040, the US population over 65 years of age will double.

Given: Fiscal hawks at the state and federal level want to reduce, dramatically change, or eliminate government-backed health insurance (Medicare and Medicaid), as well as social safety net programs (ie, Social Security, food stamps, and unemployement).

Given these facts: It is not difficult to see how the colliding forces of an aging population, increasing healthcare costs, and decreasing government support could create a perfect storm in US in the not-so-distant future.

New research published in the September 2011 issue of The American Journal of Medicine gives us a glimpse of what that perfect storm may look like.

Using statistical modeling, scientists from the University of California, San Francisco and Columbia University reported that without significant changes in risk factors or treatments, “…the aging of the US population will result in a sizeable increase in coronary heart disease incidence, prevalence, mortality, and costs.”

More specifically:

• “…incident coronary heart disease [new cases] is projected to increase by approximately 26%, from 981,000 in 2010 to 1,234,000 in 2040…
• “Prevalent coronary heart disease [is projected to increase] by 47%, from 11.7 million to 17.3 million.
• “Mortality will be affected strongly by the aging population; annual coronary heart disease deaths are projected to increase by 56% over the next 30 years, from 392,000 to 610,000.
• “Coronary heart disease-related health care costs are projected to rise by 41% from $126.2 billion in 2010 to $177.5 billion in 2040 in the United States.”

The public health and economic consequences of these projections are staggering– particularly if extremist Teapublicans like Congressman Paul Ryan and sheep-like followers (including Arizona’s own Jeff Flake) have their way.

Let’s assess the current situation…

• 52 million Americans don’t have health insurance.
• 61% of bankruptcies in the US due to medical costs.
• 9.1% of Americans are unemployed.
• Teapublicans– with the help of President Obama– want to fix the “deficit problem” by cutting entitlement programs WITHOUT cutting military spending or raising revenues or creating jobs (which would boost the economy).

If you think income disparity and greed are destroying our country now, just wait. If Teapublicans like Michelle “down with entitlements” Bachmann, Rick “minimum wage” Perry, Mitt “the oligarch’s baby” Romney, Sarah “cut NPR to balance the budget” Palin, Jeff “I was against austerity before I was for it” Flake*, and, of course, FOX “the poor need to pay their fair share” News have their way, there will be literally millions of sick, elderly Americans living at the subsistence level without healthcare services or medicine.

Is this the future we want?

The balanced budget deal passed earlier this month is the only one in history that includes cuts in spending and no increases in revenue. We need sanity in government, and I’m not sure we’ll get it from the Gang of 12.

We need to put people back to work– at good-paying jobs (not the kind Perry created in Texas)– so they can contribute to the economy and contribute to Medicare and Social Security through their paychecks. To control healthcare costs, we need universal healthcare– instead of this hybrid system that allows insurance companies to continue their rape of the American people. We need to eliminate the Bush era tax cuts for the rich and cut tax loopholes for individuals and corporations. We need to end the wars and cut military spending.

Yes, we need sanity in government.

* In all fairness, this is also the position of Senators Jon Kyl, John McCain, and Mitch McConnell and Congressmen John Boehner and Paul Ryan.

This powerful video by Bisbee activist Alison McLeod brought tears to my eyes.

US Congressman Raul Grijalva penned a moderate Op-Ed on ethnic studies for Sunday’s Arizona Daily Star:

Political Fight over Ethnic Studies Should Never Have Been Ignited at All

In his commentary, he places the blame for the problems  facing TUSD squarely where it belongs– with the Arizona Legislature, Governor Jan Brewer, and Attorney General Tom Horne. He ends the piece with a call for public comment, fairness, and due process…

Thankfully, TUSD has avoided premature decisions about the fate of the program. We need to let the legal, administrative and public comment processes run their courses. All of us, whatever our background, share the American history and values of fairness, democracy and due process.

That’s what we need here, not more overheated rhetoric.

Ironically, two days before Grijalva’s piece appeared, I also called for continued free and open public dialogue and less “overheated rhetoric.”

Focusing so intensely on this one small program is clouding the bigger picture: Education in Arizona is in trouble, and public education nationwide is under attack. As long as were fighting and drawing lines in the sand, nothing will progress. We need full transparency, and we need a public forum where everyone’s voices can be heard– not just those who shout the loudest. We need to come together to fix this– or Tom Horne will fix it for us.

Rep. Paul Ryan’s Road to Ruin budget plan (which was passed without one Democratic vote by the US House of Representatives recently) would change both Medicare and Medicaid so much that the programs would be unrecognizable.

He proposes to change Medicare to a voucher program– which could lead to increased costs for patients and more medical bankruptcies– and he proposes to change Medicaid into a block grant program and give the states authority to spend the funds as they see fit. Yikes!

Can you imagine what the Arizona Legislature would do with a Medicaid block grant? I can think of a few things…

• Give more corporate tax breaks.
• Privatize Medicaid and allow costs to run rampant (since taxpayers will be footing the bills. This will teach us discipline.)
• Legislate morality by denying women’s reproductive health services.
• Let the free market decide where community health centers and hospitals would be located. (Good-bye, El Rio.)
• Provide services everywhere in Arizona except Pima County. (It could happen. Look at all of the anti-Tucson and anti-Pima County legislation they passed this year.)

Our state Legislature is unscrupulous, and our governor is working beyond her pay grade– way beyond.

If you don’t think giving these wing-nuts more healthcare money to waste is a bad idea, check out this story from today’s Arizona Daily Star…

AHCCCS ready to start cutting services Sunday

They really don’t care what happens to the sick, the poor or the young. After all, that would be socialist.

I usually don’t yell, but this is very important.

A few of State Senator Frank Antenori’s mean-spirited anti-Tucson bills may hit Governor Jan Brewer’s desk as early as Wednesday, April 20.

John C. Scott interviewed Councilman Steve Kozachik on the Jolt 1330 AM on Tuesday. Kozachik detailed the bills that comprise Antenori’s vendetta against Tucson and reminded people about his petition against legislation that subverts local control of government. (You can still sign this by clicking the link.)

…I invite you as an individual to join me in standing up for the independent and unquestionable rights of our local governments to decide what is right for our communities. By clicking this link and signing this petition your affirmation will be automatically forwarded onto the State Legislature and to the Governor’s office. Please take the time to give your opinion a voice.

https://www.change.org/petitions/stop-hurting-our-local-government

Soooooo…. my Liberal Readers… the time to act is now.

Go ahead and click on Koz’s petition. (There are 678 right now– almost double from yesterday’s count.)

But also, call or e-mail Brewer separately from the petition. Seriously, we need to flood her office to the point where she can’t ignore us.

Tell Brewer to veto these anti-Tucson bills– mostly proposed by Antenori. The bills that are nearing passage in the Arizona Legislature (which may come tonight, according to Koz) are: SB1345 and 1347 cutting city staff to a percentage of the population (which means 1/2 of the city’s workers would be immediately unemployed) and regulating city employee’s salaries; the SB1322 forcing the city to bid every contract over $75,000 (thus adding a ton of bureaucracy to a shrinking city payroll); SB1201 allowing guns in public buildings; and SCR1025 eliminating Tucson’s clean elections law.

Here is the link to send an e-mail to the Governor.

Here are the mailing address, telephone and FAX numbers.

The Honorable Jan Brewer
Governor of Arizona
1700 West Washington
Phoenix, Arizona 85007

Telephone (602) 542-4331
In State Toll Free 1-(800) 253-0883 (outside Maricopa County only)
Fax (602) 542-1381

Don’t let them destroy our City.

Recall Antenori!

Pass this on!

P. S. Where is the rest of our city government? Koz already put his neck on the chopping block for Tucson, what about the other 6 of you? I’d suggest hopping into a city van and going to the Governor’s office on Wednesday.