Michigan Welfare Rights Organization

BROKE-BACK DEMOCRATS!

noreply@blogger.com (MWRO) — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 20:22:00 +0000

'Cipients Speak!
by Maureen D. Taylor
State Chair, MWRO

Workers entered a new world yesterday, one that will have ramifications for their futures forever. The legislation called “RIGHT TO WORK” means that workers will forever have the right to work for lower wages, for missing benefits, for non- existent safety regulations, and for no job protections against workplace offenses.

Michigan joins the rest of America and the 23 other states who have already passed similar legislation. The Governor of Michigan, Republican Rick Snyder, was quite candid as he analyzed what the “true” meaning was of this significant vote that has shaken the entire world. Gleefully, he explained that this was not an attack on organized labor but was, in fact, a measure that supports a worker’s right to choose! He went on to say that this legislation allows unions to demonstrate why they are important. If they are unable to convince workers that they are still relevant, workers should be able to stop paying dues. Contracts negotiated by those who decide to stay will still cover non-union employees.

Detroit, Flint, Saginaw, Pontiac – these are all cities that are synonymous with the birth of organized labor. The powerful unions from that era marked forever the strength and the influence of blue-collar workers for years. There was a time when the General Motors worker was the highest paid worker in the world. All contractual agreements negotiated by municipalities, schools, and organizations from city to state were modeled after those written by organized labor. Why? Because these words took into consideration both the health and safety of those covered by those contracts. Wages that separated workers from poverty were negotiated. Health benefits that addressed the medical needs of workers and their families were settled. Time off, continuous training, all kinds of community services programs, blood drives, holiday fund-raisers, events for children and seniors alike – this is the legacy that organized labor has given millions of middle income families.

Yesterday, that world was changed forever. The race to the bottom has been fueled, the back of the Democratic Party - which depends on unions at election time - has been broken. Republicans, who depend on corporate dollars, have secured electoral victories for decades to come. Is this the battle we want to fight? Time to analyze what just happened, and why.

MWRO Opposition to Right To Work

noreply@blogger.com (MWRO) — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 20:15:00 +0000

Michigan Welfare Rights Organization stands against the awful, regressive “RIGHT TO WORK” laws being forced on workers in this State. We are not fooled by these slick t.v. commercials. All attempts to “trick” residents into believing that this law has anything to do with freedom of choice is a blatant lie and must be exposed.

The truth is that the corporate community has decided that the best way for them to continue to make maximum profits while not hiring us for work is to lower our wages, take away our benefits, develop robots and technology that replace us permanently; and to convince us that this is the American future for us all. This is NOT our future!

“RIGHT TO WORK” is an attack against organized labor and more. What is the UNION?? Unions are those workers that set livable wages for all. Unions are those workers that set safety regulations that suggest all ten finger and both lungs are sacred. Unions are those workers who set policies that protect women when management supervisors want a quick touch. Unions are those workers who won’t allow companies to force children to work in mines.

We have failed over the years to define what a UNION is and why they are important, a mistake that has now come to hurt us. The UNION movement was born at night, but not LAST NIGHT, so we are now forced into this fight for our lives and for the future of the next generation of workers. The percentage of organized labor unions is today at its lowest but we are not fooled into believing that those worker protections we owe to UNIONS are no longer critical.

Children, grandchildren, all the children will one day ask, “What did we do to stop this attack on our collective standard of living when the corporate beast came after our futures?” All workers, from those who are low income to those who are middle income to those who are upper income, should be alarmed at this attempt to turn the clock back. Tuesday, many of us will travel to Lansing to make our voices clear about this “RIGHT TO WORK” lie. It is but one step toward the long march to re-capture the future of the next generation.

Another World Is Possible, Another America Is Necessary. The “needs of the many must always outweigh the needs of the few.” You get what you organize to take.

Maureen D. Taylor
State Chair, MWRO

MWRO Party and Computer Lab Fundraiser

noreply@blogger.com (MWRO) — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 23:25:00 +0000

Depression, Recession, Bail-Outs Got You Down?

Free your worries at the MWRO Anti-Depression Party!

Friday, August 17, 2012 from 8-11pm
International Institute, 111 E. Kirby/John R (north of DIA), Detroit, MI.

Fight Depression Ticket - $10
Really Fight Depression Ticket - $15 (includes dinner)
B.Y.O.B. – Set ups available

Party like it’s…
1929: Stock Market crashes.
1939: John Steinbeck publishes “Grapes of Wrath.”
1949: China becomes communist.
1959: Fidel Castro leads Cuban revolution.
1969: Woodstock concerts begin summer of love.
1979: Mother Teresa awarded Nobel Peace Prize.
1989: Savings & loan crisis is exposed.
1999: Prince starts a music revolution!

Tickets available at the door or in advance at the MWRO office. Contact MWRO at (313) 964-0618 or mwroinfo@gmail.com for more info. If you cannot attend please consider mailing a donation to MWRO, 23 E. Adams St, 4th fl, Detroit, MI 48226.

Proceeds will benefit the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization Technology Fund for our Digital Justice Coalition matching dollars effort to build a community computer lab.
Thank you!

Press Release on Detroit Housing Takeover Discussion

noreply@blogger.com (MWRO) — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 14:29:00 +0000

The Housing Is a Human Right Coalition is presenting to the Detroit City Council today at 1:00 p.m. its work to move homeless families into abandoned bank- and government-owned houses. The community is invited to this discussion on addressing the need for safe, affordable housing for homeless veterans, women and children; and improving the security and quality of neighborhoods across Detroit.

Maureen Taylor, MWRO State Chair, will lead the Coalition's presentation, including a history of the increasing homeless crisis in Detroit and the significant potential for addressing the economic and social costs through the City of Detroit's Nuisance Abatement ordinance.

For additional information, contact the Housing Is a Human Right Coalition through the MWRO office at (313) 964-0618.

Emergency Managers Attack Our Democracy

noreply@blogger.com (MWRO) — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 20:31:00 +0000

As we prepare to take a bus load of low income people to the Michigan Supreme Court tomorrow, here's another reminder of why this Emergency Manager issue is so significant. Governor Snyder and corporations are trying their hardest to take away our democracy. We've got to stop them from taking away from our families and communities any more of the little we've got left!

The Scandal of Michigan's Emergency Managers

noreply@blogger.com (MWRO) — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 15:51:00 +0000

Joe Harris, state appointed emergency manager in Benton Harbor, Mich., unlocks the door of the city manager's office.

REPOSTED FROM BANCO.ORG

On January 20 the progressive think tank Michigan Forward and the Detroit branch of the NAACP sent a joint letter to Michigan Governor Rick Snyder expressing concern over Public Act 4, the Local Government and School District Fiscal Accountability Act. Signed into law in March 2011, it granted unprecedented new powers to the state’s emergency managers (EMs), including breaking union contracts, taking over pension systems, setting school curriculums and even dissolving or disincorporating municipalities. Under PA 4, EMs, who are appointed by the governor, can “exercise any power or authority of any officer, employee, department, board, commission or other similar entity of the local government whether elected or appointed.”

What are the qualifications for such a powerful office and the six-figure salary that accompanies it? Not much: PA 4 requires “a minimum of 5 years’ experience and demonstrate expertise in business, financial, or local or state budgetary matters."

Last year the state held a pair of two-day training sessions for EMs, both run primarily by companies that provide outsourcing services to municipalities and school districts. Yet PA 4 made the emergency manager the single most powerful person in the city.

Results were swift. In April the Benton Harbor EM, Joe Harris, decreed: “Absent prior express written authorization and approval by the Emergency Manager”—himself—“no City Board, Commission or Authority shall take any action for or on behalf of the City whatsoever other than: i) Call a meeting to order, ii) Approve of meeting minutes, iii) Adjourn a meeting.” The move in effect abolished Benton Harbor’s elected City Commission and replaced it with an unelected bureaucrat, perhaps the first time this has happened in US history.

The implications went beyond Benton Harbor. “Since the beginning of your administration, communities facing or under emergency management have doubled,” Michigan Forward and the NAACP wrote to the governor, citing a “failure of transparency and accountability” in the process of determining which jurisdictions need an emergency manager. The financial review team assigned to Detroit, for instance, had recently met in Lansing, nearly 100 miles away—“a clear example of exclusion and voter disenfranchisement,” according to the authors. On February 6 an Ingham County circuit judge ruled that the Detroit team’s meetings must be held in public.

Of Detroit’s 713,777 residents, 89 percent are African-American. The city of Inkster (population 25,369), which recently got an EM, has a black population of 73 percent. Having EMs in both cities would mean that more than half the state’s black population would fall into the hands of unelected officials.

* * * * * * *

Everyone agrees that something must be done to “fix” Michigan’s struggling urban centers and school districts, although news of a $457 million surplus in early February prompted the state budget director to declare, “Things have turned.” But at what cost? In 2011 Governor Snyder stripped roughly $1 billion from statewide K-12 school funding and drastically reduced revenue sharing to municipalities. Combined with poor and sometimes corrupt leadership and frequently dysfunctional governments, these elements have brought Michigan cities to the brink of bankruptcy. Residents of the hardest-hit places have fled if they are able.

* * *

The state’s first emergency managers—previously known as emergency financial managers—were appointed between 2000 and 2002 by Republican Governor John Engler in the cities of Hamtramck, Flint and Highland Park to prevent them from declaring bankruptcy. Although all eventually left when their job was done—the last in 2009—all three cities are back in the red. In January the Highland Park School District was assigned an EM. (That city—population 11,776—is 93.5 percent African-American.) Others followed, in Ecorse, Benton Harbor and Pontiac, as well as Detroit public schools.

Under PA 4, EMs have proven to be a divisive solution. Outsourcing services to private companies and abolishing collective bargaining takes a page right out of the right-wing playbook: a 2011 report titled “101 Recommendations to Revitalize Michigan,” published by the conservative Mackinac Center for Public Policy, calls for ending “mandatory collective bargaining for government employees who already enjoy civil service protections.” Many are worried that EMs will hasten the gentrification of places like Benton Harbor, pushing out poor residents to make way for developers. In one of his first acts under PA 4, Joe Harris replaced nine people on the Brownfield Redevelopment Authority and all nine members of the planning commission.

Despite their relatively short history, EMs have a record of abusing their powers. This past summer Arthur Blackwell II, Highland Park’s former emergency financial manager, was ordered to repay more than $250,000 he paid himself. In Pontiac EFM Michael Stampfler outsourced the city’s wastewater treatment to United Water just months after the Justice Department announced a twenty-six-count indictment against the company for violating the Clean Water Act.

Multiple efforts are under way to rid Michigan of PA 4. The first is a lawsuit brought in June 2011 by the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice and the Center for Constitutional Rights challenging the law under the state Constitution. Despite efforts by the Snyder administration to bypass the legal process and force the Republican-controlled state supreme court to hear the case immediately, the lawsuit is pending. Representative John Conyers is pursuing the issue through the Justice Department, arguing that the law’s impact on minority populations may violate the Voting Rights Act.

But Michigan Republicans seem to be most concerned about a petition drive, organized by Michigan Forward, seeking a citizen referendum to overturn the law. As of mid-February the petition had more than 200,000 signatures, well over the number necessary to put the law on hold. The group plans to turn in the petitions on February 29. Since PA 4 replaced the law that created emergency financial managers, this could eliminate the positions in Michigan until the referendum is voted on in November.

GOP lawmakers are discussing replacement legislation, with Michigan House Speaker Jase Bolger warning about “the chaos that could ensue if the emergency manager law is suspended.” Since Michigan law prevents referendums on appropriations bills, PA 4 opponents fear that any such law will contain an appropriation to make it “referendum proof,” a tactic already used by the state GOP this year.

The outcome of the citizen referendum and the constitutional challenges may well determine if laws like PA 4 remain unique to Michigan or become the national standard for dealing with impoverished urban areas. With the Indiana Senate having just passed an emergency manager bill of its own, we may be heading down that path. by Chris Savage

http://www.thenation.com/article/166297/scandal-michigans-emergency-managers#

Rally on the Court of Appeals

noreply@blogger.com (MWRO) — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 16:40:00 +0000

Please join MWRO at this community action today!

It is important that you RALLY with us on Wednesday July 11 at 3 PM at the following location:

MICHIGAN COURT APPEALS
DISTRICT I -DETROIT
Cadillac Place
3020 West Grand Boulevard Suite 14-300
Detroit, MI 48202-6020

Repeal of the Emergency Manager Act PA 4 has not been put on the November Ballot!

THE PEOPLE WANT IT. THE COURTS ORDERED IT.

IT’S STILL NOT ON THE BALLOT.

Please invite your pastor and everyone you know to join us on this most important day!!!!!

Democracy Under Attack Through Appeals Court

noreply@blogger.com (MWRO) — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 20:25:00 +0000

Dear Colleagues:

You can't make this stuff up. Here we are waiting for these almost four weeks for the appeals judges to render a decision on the public petition signatures against Public Act 4, and this is what they come up with.

First page of Court of Appeals decision

The font size, THEY CLAIM, is wrong but even still, the standard is substantially compliant, which MANDATES that they allow this issue to go on the ballot -- a great victory for our side -- and an issue that seems strange since the call is for democracy to take place by letting the electorate vote on this critical issue. Why all of these legal ranglings?

WE have to get the language for the ballot initiative set up, printed out and approved by August 8, 2012 in time for the November election. Shouldn't we all be in support of that American tenet -- "let the voters decide"?

Their suggestion is that these three appeals court judges call a meeting of all 28 state appeals court judges, and from that group, select a smaller group of seven who will review the "substantially compliant" decision rendered years ago, overturn it, and follow thru with overturning every other similar supportive decision rendered from that date forward until they arrive at THIS issue as a basis to overturn our efforts. WOW!!!

This damned democracy is too freaking dangerous and must be done away with. Gov. Snyder has now become the law of the land, and we must knuckle-under when he wants to overthrow elections then hand-pick managers who do his bidding. No more back talk! No further grievances will be filed. Abandon any further uppity expectations that the old rule of law is to be followed. Things have changed, so you should all get with the program and quickly!

Colleagues, I urge you to all stop these foolish road blocks and attempts to circumvent the will of our new masters who believe themselves to know more than we do. The "spirit of democracy" that we grew up with is an old adage, stale, decayed, unproductive, and not what the country needs anymore. WE need to stand behind the "new world order," allow our rights as ordinary citizens to be trampled and prove our collective love of country by bearing these assaults in silence and with total compliance.

Last page of Court of Appeals decision

The hour of decision is close at hand, and so each of us have to decide what do we want the nation to look like: If we want peace, if we want silent-suffering, if we want give the appearance of all getting along, we will bear these moments as good little boys and girls, quietly praying for a good outcome. Or, we will chose what is behind door #2...resistance!

This damned democracy was not everyone's rule. We were taught this concept when we came to this country. Some arrived on the top or in the bottom of the boat, and others greeted and welcomed these travelers when they arrived on shores already populated by natives. We listened to it, sounded like it could work, and we bought into the "hype" that we are all equal in the eyes of democracy. This ruling says something else.

Events of late have demonstrated a new paradigm that all have heard of, "money talks, and B-S walks." Every life is at stake. Every hope is in peril. Every wish is in danger. Every democratic right is in the line of fire and there are fingers on triggers at the ready. The future of mankind is in the balance.

Each of us has to now decide in the face of such a shocking ruling by the Appeals Court judges what direction does the country now need to go if we are to protect the State and the Nation. If the "ballot box" is no longer the pathway to social justice, and the court system is no longer the bus we can ride to take us there, then what mechanism do we use to secure the lives and freedoms of our children? You either stand down in silence, or you RESIST, ORGANIZE, and WIN. You get what you organize to take.

Maureen D. Taylor

State Chairperson - MWRO

Stand Up for Democracy vs MI Secretary of State

noreply@blogger.com (MWRO) — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:03:00 +0000

Local news stations have shared the correspondence that Michigan Governor Snyder has offered an opinion to the Appeals Judges who are about to render a decision whether or not to certify the signature process aimed at placing Public Act #4 on the November ballot. He asks in his memo that these Judges NOT impede his forward momentum by certifying this effort.

We have a position as well. We would ask that these Judges NOT impede the people's right to democracy.

So bizarre are these events relative to the petition activity that even the attention of national newscasters (like Rachel Maddow) has been captured each noting that nowhere else in the nation has so little been written about so huge an event. Over turning elections has a history.

Public Act 4, the emergency manager act, is the crux of what we are alarmed about. It allows the Governor, so he thinks, to void state and local elections in places where the finances of that municipality are stressed, and a person of his choosing is seated who answers only to the Governor. This "dictator law" has no successful outcome anywhere in the State and, in every example, has led to even deeper financial debt as the assets of the people are sold to the highest bidder at pennies on the dollar.

Benton Harbor had a deficit and after the emergency manager was seated, the deficit is three times greater. Pontiac had a deficit and has a greater one today. The Detroit School District had a deficit and it has grown to a much larger number under the forced emergency manager. So one would ask, what the real agenda is with this outrageous act?

Attacking democracy is no small matter. It starts small -- a little less democracy here, a little less there, and before you know it people are convinced that to appoint officials must be the right thing to do because it keeps happening!

That pesky "democracy" is getting in the way of what corporations want, so efforts to sideline it are underway across the State. How egregious is it that the once mighty Pontiac Silverdome, that was the "mecca" of sports and other major events costed out at $55 million when it was first built, was sold for $500,000 just months ago? This businessman has now named the same emergency manager in charge of that sale to his team as he prepares to retrofit the Silverdome for the newest casino owned by him!

We are heading into deep, dark waters and should prepare ourselves for street to street battle.

On Thursday, all segments of the State will learn a valuable lesson about what is taught in civics and government class in local schools: Do the people have a right to redress? Maybe not anymore. Can the size of the print on a petition be enough to disqualify the will of just under 240,000 people? Apparently yes. Can a representative of the Tea Party, the Republican party or any party be allowed to tamper with this American process in such a way that democracy is sacrificed? Don't know yet. No lover of freedom and open government can stand by and let such an action take place.

If you are able, come to the State Bldg at Cadillac Place, 3020 W. Grand Blvd, Suite 14-300 (at Second St) in Detroit on Thursday, May 17th, no later than 9am. Stand and watch as we look to see if democracy still stands. "...oh say does that star-spangled banner yet wave, over the land of the free and the home of the brave?" Democracy has been stolen. The outcome of this Appeals Court hearing will reveal a great message and will help clarify what stage of this battle we are entering.

MD Taylor
MWRO State Chairperson

Maureen Taylor To Receive NAACP Freedom and Justice Award

noreply@blogger.com (MWRO) — Fri, 04 May 2012 21:27:00 +0000

Update: See Maureen Taylor's NAACP award acceptance speech.

Dear Family and Friends,

Our own Maureen Taylor will be one of the people receiving a Freedom and Justice Award from the Detroit NAACP on its 100th birthday on May 6, 2012. We are very proud of her and the work she has continued to do! The dinner is the largest one in the U.S. for the NAACP.

Maureen, State Chair of MWRO, has given her life to fighting in the interests of the working class, in general; and in particular, to that section of the working class that have been forced into poverty. She understands and educates that we must build a new society where we will not be facing homelessness, we don't have to face a day without food, health care, quality and free education, etc.

Maureen's history will speak for itself because each day she is engaged in what are the next steps of the struggle. Maureen is a true leader of the working class.

You know, for me it is a joy to work with her and for all of us to gain knowledge and learn from each other. General Baker and I have had the opportunity to have her with us for years and have watch her develop into a loving and great leader.

Thank you in advance,

Marian Kramer
Co-Chair,
National Welfare Rights Union

MWRO on Board of Canvassers Decision Against Public Act 4 Petitions

noreply@blogger.com (MWRO) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 20:39:00 +0000

Dear Colleagues;

On Thursday, those in attendance at the Board of Canvassers session witnessed something that shocked and horrified all. The event at 10am was to officially certify the signatures submitted to repeal Public Act #4, also known as the "Dictator Act." The review of the process revealed that the appropriate number of valid signatures were indeed collected, some 40,000 more than was needed totaling 206,000 Michigan signatures from all parts of the State.

There were two Board members who were declared Democrats, and two who were declared Republicans for a total of four persons. The Tea Party sent a lawyer who argued that the "font size" of the declaratory portion of the petition was the wrong size therefore the signatures could not be certified. The issue is that in MCL/Michigan Compiled Law, the statute calls for a size 14 font to be used at the top of the petition that explains the rationale for the initiative. Then, it was "our turn."

Our atty. was brilliant as he went point-by-point to dismiss the Tea Party lawyer's allegation. Atty. Hank Sanders was brilliant as he discussed the font size challenge: depending on which print style you use, a size 14 font in one font style may be different in height from another, a fact. He introduced an engraver who reviewed the print size and validated that the print was a size 14, as did the other witness, the actual printer of the petitions who conclusively validated the size 14 font as a fact.

With all that being said, the first two Democrats recommended acceptance and certification as suggested by their staff. Both Republicans cited the conclusions of the Tea Party lawyer while they declared their need to follow the law -- both denying certification. The Board rules declare that three members must agree to pass anything, so a vote of two to two did not pass. Next step, court!

There were lovers of democracy in the room and they were all dismayed by this incredible breach of the right to vote played out. The room exploded with outrage with the voters not willing to calm themselves. The two Republican Board members left the room for a while, not willing to incur the people's wrath. So incredible was this obvious stalling tactic, that the most steeled among us were speechless. Those who thought righteousness was possible were stunned.

The question now is what to do about elected/appointed officials who act against us with no threat of repercussions. How do we interrupt their "business as usual" attitude and replace it with the fear of reprisals should we be betrayed?

What is the answer...

Maureen D. Taylor

State Chairperson - MI Welfare Rights Org.

P.S. This post was typed in a 14 pt font.

Maureen Taylor and Marian Kramer React to Lansing Decision

noreply@blogger.com (MWRO) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 20:49:00 +0000

The bipartisan Michigan Board of Canvassers on Thursday, April 26, 2012, voted along partisan lines -- two Democrats in support and two Republicans against -- and did not validate the 206,000 signatures against Public Act 4, the Financial Manager law.

Listen as Maureen Taylor and Marian Kramer of Michigan Welfare Rights Organization respond to the decision as residents from across the State of Michigan react with disbelief!

Rachel Maddow on Michigan Republicans and Public Act 4

noreply@blogger.com (MWRO) — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 21:46:00 +0000

Rachel Maddow, host of MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show, talks about Michigan Republican legislative attempts to strip democracy, plus the emergency financial manager law in Michigan. She calls these attempts to preempt the people's will as autocratic and the most radical Republican threats to democracy in the U.S -- we couldn't agree more!

Hear for yourself:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Get on the Bus to Lansing to Deliver Our Petitions

noreply@blogger.com (MWRO) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 08:26:00 +0000

Join us for

the victory lap!!!

We have the signatures needed to stop the Emergency Manager, Public Act #4 law passed by Governor Snyder that takes away our right to vote.

We are escorting those signatures to
the Capitol in Lansing on
Wednesday, Feb. 29^th, 2012.

Bus leaves Detroit at 10:30am.

The “leap-year” bus will leave from Central United Methodist Church,

23 E. Adams and Woodward (near Comerica Park)

We rally in Lansing at noon and will re-board buses between 2-3pm back to Detroit.

Each seat is: $8.00/round-trip,

Fees due by Friday, Feb. 24^th, 2012.

Reserve your seat today:

(313) 964-0618 – MI Welfare Rights Org.

Creative Commons image from momphard.net

"Take Over" Film showing in Detroit, Feb 15, 5:30pm

noreply@blogger.com (MWRO) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 06:59:00 +0000

You are invited to a FREE showing of the independent film "Take Over" -- documenting the 1990 nationwide takeover of federal housing organized by the National Union of the Homeless and the National Welfare Rights Union. It will be shown Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at 5:30pm sharp. (Discussion to follow.) MWRO office, 23. E. Adams at Woodward, 4th floor (at Central United Methodist Church). For more info, contact MWRO at 313-964-0618.

Help stop destruction of Blair Mountain

noreply@blogger.com (MWRO) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 20:55:00 +0000

From our friends at Keeper of the Mountains:

Mountaintop removal coal mining is destroying the mountains and threatening the health and lives of communities across Appalachia. But people in Appalachia are standing up and today they need your support.

As I often say, "This is a reminder for everyone to stand as 99%, until we really start standing as 99%, we have yet to stand as the full 99%." Let us take action and stand together.

Residents of Blair, West Virginia have noticed increased activity from mining company Arch Coal around Blair Mountain -- site of the largest labor uprising in American history. Residents are becoming increasingly concerned about Arch’s activities and fear they will move forward with plans to mine the historic location.

Take action today - Tell Arch Coal To Save Blair Mountain

Arch Coal has four planned operations on Blair Mountain, some of which intrude onto the battlefield. Tomorrow, this multi-billion dollar company will announce its profits from the fourth quarter of last year. Whatever those earnings are, the company has a responsibility to the community in which it operates.

Folks in Appalachia won’t stand for Arch Coal’s plan to destroy their community and our nation’s history just so they can increase their profit margin, and we shouldn’t either.

Call Arch CEO, Steven Leer today, on Friday, February 10 and tell him that Appalachian communities should not fall victim to pad his profit margin.

Call Arch’s St. Louis headquarters: (314) 994-2700

Call Arch’s Charleston, WV headquarters: (304) 760-2400

To allow Arch Coal to destroy Blair Mountain would be to tear out a crucial page of American labor history and burn it. But even more important than the history are the lives of the people living at the foot of this mountain today.

CALL SCRIPT:

Hello, my name is ____ and I am calling to ask you to abandon your plans to mine the historic Blair Mountain. The whole world is watching, and I am calling on your corporation to do the right thing and stop the destruction of Blair Mountain, along with all other mountains and communities in Appalachia. Mountaintop removal mining is wrong and harmful to the people and communities below it. Please cease and desist from your Blair Mountain plans.

Thank you!

Welfare Warriors Respond to Smiley and West

noreply@blogger.com (MWRO) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:26:00 +0000

For the past few weeks, rebroadcasts of Tavis Smiley and Dr. Cornel West's national television discussion, "Remaking America: From Poverty to Prosperity," has been shown on PBS stations. Conversations from this series include a range of professionals with their solutions to poverty. They include personal-finance expert Suze Orman, filmmaker Michael Moore, poverty expert Jeffrey Sachs, urban-revitalization strategist Majora Carter, and others.

In response, Pat Gowens, Director Welfare Warriors, had this to say:

Dear Tavis Smiley,

Instead of inviting wealthy guests to explain poverty, please include the
experts on your show: people living in poverty and the people organizing to
end the war on the poor.

You asked, "Why do the poor stay poor?" For the same reasons the rich stay
rich. Intergenerational class mobility is US folklore. You asked "Are poor
people superfluous?"

Poor people keep this country (and all others) functioning, generation after
generation. Without poor people we would have no food and few children. Poor
farmworkers provide all of our food. Poor mothers reproduce and produce the
majority of children and poor women care for the children of all classes
whether in daycares or as nannies. Without poor people we would have no
restaurants, malls, fast-food industry, service industry, temporary worker
agencies, hotels, tanneries, and foundries.

Poor people work the sub-poverty wage jobs, the jobs with the most growth in
the US, the least benefits and the most danger.

Without poor people we would have no prison industrial complex, no massive
job creation for professional poverty pimps, few social service careers, and
far fewer wars.

But poverty is not just about bad wages. Poverty is also a result of the
majority of work generating no wages: unwaged motherworkers; unwaged
caregivers of the sick, the injured, the elders, the dying; and unwaged
caretakers of animals, crops, and communities. Doing the unwaged work leaves
few hours in a day to generate income. Unlike Europe, the US provides no
economic support to motherworkers and children. Nor does the US provide paid
sick leave or paid maternity leave to most workers.

Just as there are more sub-poverty jobs each decade, there are also more
people with disabilities who can not generate income. Disability also causes
poverty.

Your wealthy panel of "experts" did not include even one token sub-poverty
worker, one unwaged worker, one disabled person, one anti-poverty activist.
And there was no mention of the violent war on the poor. Poverty after all
is violence.

Ignoring the "elephant in the studio"-- the motherworkers, farmworkers,
injured workers, children, disabled people, elders, and the sub-poverty wage
workers--smacks of prejudice against the poor. Excluding the activists
working to stop the war on the poor is incomprehensible.

Please consider becoming the vanguard, a leader in giving a voice to victims
of poverty and those who are fighting the war on the poor. Whether
harvesting food in the US or mining coltan in the Congo or doing the unwaged
caregiving for dependent people, victims of poverty are at the mercy of a
violent worldwide economic system that elevates its status and wealth by
standing on the backs of the poor. This must be changed.

Pat Gowens, Director Welfare Warriors
Editor, Mother Warriors Voice, a 25-year-old international
mothers-in-poverty publication

A FEW POVERTY EXPERTS:
Congresswoman Gwen Moore, Diana Spatz (LIFETIME), Pat Albright, Margaret
Prescott (Every Mother Is A Working Mother), Dotty Stevens (Survival News),
Marian Kramer (Michigan Welfare Rights), Charles King (Housing Now), Arturo
Rodriguez (United Farm Workers), Pat Gowens

Ruth Williams Joins Freedom Fighters in the Heavens

noreply@blogger.com (MWRO) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 00:36:00 +0000

It is with great sorrow that we share the news that our own Ruth Williams, was carried away by the angels last night.

Ruth has been the consummate organizer and housing champion for decades, learning HUD policies and making certain that these policies were applied to help low income families. She never tired of this task. I can remember calling her for client advice even while she was in the hospital waiting for this or that procedure, me insisting that she address the issue at hand. She always would, telling the medical team - you have to wait because I have this NUT on the phone.

There will not be another like her, and we are all so blessed to have had her in our lives for some 70 plus years. Ruth has been the membership chair of MI Welfare Rights, and a member of LRNA and will be sorely missed.

She left during the night at home with family, and her extended family close by. We loved her dearly, and she always knew it! Sleep well, sweet Ruth - you did good!

Maureen D. Taylor, State Chairperson - MWRO.

Stop the Attacks on the Poor! -- December 10

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Vitale) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 15:38:00 +0000

MWRO Calls its Members and the Metropolitan Community!

A Day of Deliberations and Decisions

Stop the Attack on the Poor!

Saturday, December 10

Central United Methodist Church • 23 E. Adams • Detroit

Morning • 10 am - 12 pm

Stop the Cuts!

Lawyers, judges, social workers, paralegals, and activists will gather to devise strategies that attack this form of genocide — the welfare cuts to mothers and children.

(See article below For Whom The Bell Tolls.)

Lunch • 12 pm — 1 pm for morning and afternoon sessions

Afternoon • 1 pm - 4 pm

Put Homeless Children and Veterans into Homes!

Community leaders and activists will gather to create a committee to put people back in their homes. (See article below Put Homeless Children and Veterans into Homes.)

For more information:

Please call the MWRO Office at 313-964-0618.

For Whom the Bell Tolls

By Maureen Taylor

Chairperson, Michigan WRO

For months, MI Welfare Rights has warned the residents of MI that the Governor was prepared to start programs that targeted children. No one ever imagined the horror that is about to be placed around the necks of low income children.

Effective immediately, mothers and children who depend on meager welfare benefits to pay for rent, mortgages and utilities have been cut off with no plan. Mothers with disabled children, disabled mothers, mothers in domestic violence circumstances, all who were supposed to be exempted, have received written notices informing them that their cash assistance cases have ended.

We are facing the most draconian series of events seen in the State, in the County, and most tragically in the City of Detroit. Some 40,000 welfare families living in Wayne County are the first to be killed-off, with some 15,000 of these living in Detroit.

The criteria for eligibility, is that families must have at least one minor child. With 40,000 families, we are looking at some 40,000, or 80,000, or 120,000 children who are being harmed.

Information you need to know.

1) If you receive a cut-off notice, you must file an in-person hearing within ten days of the date on that notice to maintain your benefits. You have a right to challenge a cut-off of benefits if the following has happened to you and your family:

You have a disabled child;

You are disabled;

You have been in a domestic violence situation;

File an IN-PERSON HEARING as soon as possible if you are or have been in any of these situations while receiving cash assistance. If you are outside the ten day date, file knowing that you will not be able to keep your assistance, but you will have your case heard in front of an Administrative Law Judge. FILE!! FILE!! FILE!!

Welfare Rights is proposing legal action to address these budget cuts aimed at making poor children homeless. To suggest that the State is “broke” and that Michigan can save $77 million each year by cutting off funds to the poorest and the littlest signifies that one has crossed over to the “dark side” already.

This “CALL TO ACTION” is to alert and to gather lawyers, judges, Social Workers, paralegals, and activists to devise strategies that attack this pattern of genocide.

This “CALL TO ACTION” is for all who read this article including welfare recipients who have received 48 month notices that claim their benefits have maxed out.

Call MWRO at (313) 964-0618 to be included in the first session, being planned before the end of December.

REMEMBER!! We march every Thursday, noon to 1pm, at the State Building – 3044 W. Grand Blvd – against these cuts.

We will meet at the MI Welfare Rights office, 23 E. Adams, near Comerica Park, Saturday, December 10, at 10 am. Call in your rsvp!

Put Homeless Children and Veterans into Homes!

The time has come to put homeless children and veterans into homes. Since the economic crisis began, people around Detroit have been talking about putting people into empty homes.

Now is the time to move from talking about it to seriously planning it and executing the plan.

No one organization or one community has been able to do this work to date.

In our vision, the committee is initially composed of community leaders, organizations and/or their representatives who can:

1. Reach out to bring families cut from welfare and homeless veterans into the struggle.

2. Marshal all the resources necessary to successfully put people in and keep them in homes.

These include legal teams to fight for justice in the courts, committees to supply food, furniture, clothing; education and training in the political struggle involved; skilled

trades to repair homes and maintain utilities and many others.

3. Strategize and develop the best plans to successfully put people in to homes.

At the meeting, many aspects of this struggle may be debated or explored but the goal is expressly clear — the creation of a community-supported committee to plan such actions.

(From page 6 of the Winter 2011 MWRO Newsletter)

Low-income people are the majority of the 99%

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Vitale) — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 23:53:00 +0000

A new, more accurate measure of poverty shows the low income group is 47% of the society or nearly 150 million people.
Also, under this new measure, the rate of poverty for people older than 65 nearly doubles, from 9% to 16%.
Poverty means an income of less than $24,000 a year or four people ($11,000 for an individual). 49 million people, 16%, are poor.
Low income is defined as between $24,000 - $48,000 (100- 200% of poverty) for a family of four. This group is now 98 million people, or 32%.
Adding the poor and low-income groups together -- all families with incomes below $48,000 -- is 48% of the country.
The low-income section of the population is increasing not because people are being lifted up out of poverty because more and more people are falling in to poverty.
Finally, the well-off group falls from 35% of the society to 17%; families of four with incomes of $97,000 or greater. The drop is due to including medical costs and taxes which erode what appeared to be gains in income.
The new measurement shows a sharper and clearer picture of the United States -- much poorer, with a much smaller middle class.
All to benefit the 1% and the 0.1%. They are hoarding the wealth of the society at the expense of everyone else.
For Michigan Welfare Rights these numbers are closer to the truth. They show that we, and other welfare rights unions across the country have 150 million potential members and allies.

We are the majority of the 99%! (See NY Times, Sunday November 20 page 10)

Prof. Cornell West to Occupiers: We have deep love for poor people

noreply@blogger.com (MWRO) — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 22:36:00 +0000

Dr. West speaks at Occupy Seattle, November 17, 2011:

"When you've done all the things you set out to do -- raising your voice...raising our voices, our individual voices, our collective voices -- for what? Out of the deep love we have for poor people, working people, people of color, our gay brothers and lesbian sisters -- all of those who have been dehumanized, pushed to the margins and we say, 'Yes, it is a love movement!...In the last 30 years this class war against poor and working people -- pushing folk against the wall as if somehow they're just marginalized utilities in a profit margin analysis. No, those are human beings there -- losing their houses, jobs unavailable, wages stagnating with profits at the top, breaking records year in and year out. And when they get in trouble, even when they hard on folk and welfare on below, they get the corporate welfare from the top. Oh, yes! I call it corporate socialism. That's what it is: tax payers' money supporting the oligarchs when they get into trouble -- talking to me about personal responsibility...nobody going to jail given the criminal activity that's been going on on Wall Street for the past 15 years. Not one person's gone to jail!"

Hear the rest of his speech. Preach on, Professor!

Statistics on the 99% vs 1%

noreply@blogger.com (MWRO) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 19:15:00 +0000

Want more evidence that the 99% are being screwed by the 1%? Check out these U.S. figures:

400 billionaires
The richest 1% owns 1/3 of the wealth
Luxury car sales are up 8.7%, jewelry 20%
1 in 6 people have no health insurance
1 in 7 people live below the poverty line
1 in 7 people are food insecure
1 in 17 earns below the federal minimum wage ($7.25/hr)

In fact, it looks like it's really the 99.99% vs .01%!

Update on judge's ruling -- Cuts beginning now!

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Vitale) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 19:10:00 +0000

Soon after a local judge ruled that welfare cuts had to be rescinded, an appeals court overturned his ruling last Friday, November 4 and cuts affecting tens of thousands of Michigan residents began Saturday.

Keep Up the Pressure! Resurrection March this Thursday!

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Vitale) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 15:09:00 +0000

Resurrection March
When: Thursday, November 10, 12 noon
Where:Detroit, State of Michigan Building, 3044 W. Grand Blvd (between Second and Cass)

Once again a judge has forced the state of Michigan to continue welfare payments; this is two months in a row and each time it has meant millions of dollars for low-income families.
Our Resurrection Marches have been part of the key reason for these rulings and victories — the struggle in the streets for justice for welfare recipients.
But these are very temporary victories. We need to keep up the pressure! Reach out and bring someone new to the Resurrection March.
The first 14,000 families who receive just over $5,000 per year are on still on the chopping block. Does it cost too much money to keep welfare families alive? We must RECLAIM the spirit of humanity in Michigan, especially now when decency and democracy both are under attack.

Join us for Resurrection March
When:Thursday, November 10, 12 noon
Where:Detroit, State of Michigan Building, 3044 W. Grand Blvd (between Second and Cass)

Marine Tells NYPD to Stop Brutalizing Occupy Wall Street Protesters

noreply@blogger.com (MWRO) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 20:01:00 +0000

Sgt. Shamar Thomas is a two tour Iraqi war veteran from a military family who was filmed on the streets of New York City chastising New York Police Department officers for attacking innocent, unarmed Occupy Wall Street protesters. See the amazing video for yourself.

Watch Sgt. Shamar Thomas speak with journalist Keith Olbermann about why he criticized NYPD officers for beating U.S. civilians who are exercising their right to protest against corporate greed and government corruption.