18 DECEMBER 1 - DECEMBER 7, 2017 BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP
INEQUALITY GAP
CONTINUING TO GROW
While Republicans frantically
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neque. Aliquam semper euismod
push to get a tax bill
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voted on without debate
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or examination, the Supreme Court,
with Neal Gorsuch, President Trump’s
conservative appointee, is ready to
decide the constitutionality of agency
fee payments for labor unions.
Governor Rauner of Illinois, a Republican
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union hater, believes the high
court will hold in the case Janus vs.
ACFSCME that a union cannot “take”
dues/fees from a worker unwilling to
pay them voluntarily.
A worker who benefits under a
collective bargaining agreement negotiated
by a union must contribute
union dues as agency fees even when
the worker refuses to join the union.
A worker, without the fee policy, can
take benefits the union gets for members
without contributing to support
the union. If the Illinois law is upheld,
workers can choose to save that money
and unions will wither and die.
Robert Reich, the Labor Secretary
for President Clinton from 1993 to
1997, has written a book called Saving
Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few.
He pointed out in 1997, "It used to be
in America, a rising economic tide
caused all ships to rise ... but recently,the rising tide is elevating only the
yachts.” He recognized a problem
with “widening inequality in America”
where working class people saw
income drop while the rich saw a 26
percent increase in income.
He called on citizens to “push back
against the economic forces that
would otherwise divide us” and his
call to action rings true today.
The people have a right to a decent
wage, public education, the safety
net of Social Security and affordable
healthcare. Republicans promise that
the free market will take care of everything
while working industriously
to eliminate everything that actually
helps American workers.
In the late 19th century, American
capitalism produced jobs, economic
growth, booms and great fortunes.
It also produced unsafe work sites,
urban squalor, busts and poisonous
food and drugs for consumers.
COMMON SENSE
BY JERRY KASSAR
WE THE
PEOPLE
BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP • JUNE 5 - JUNE 11, 2014
WE THE
PEOPLE
BY BRIAN KERIN
WE THE PEOPLE
BY BRIAN KERIN
Corporations then and now did pay
workers more but only when it suited
their economic interest. In boom economies,
wages increased but the share
of income for investors and corporate
leaders increased much more. This
pattern reached a peak in 1928 when
the top one percent received 23 percent
of total income, and was repeated
in 2007, before the Great Recession.
Wages for workers, today, adjusted
for inflation, are at a lower percent
of the total economy while corporate
profits are at a higher percent than at
any time in the last 40 years.
Republican reaction is a push for
lower taxes for corporations and
destruction of the Affordable Care
BY BRIAN KIERAN
Act in the same bill. But, the shifting of
power and reapportioning of wealth
by government will only be addressed
if voters inform themselves and vote.
The forces behind the “reform” tax
bill are not here to address the problems
in our economy. They are intent
on the destruction of organized labor
and affordable health care.
The motivation is an unquenchable
thirst for more money, power and
influence. The current push for a “reform”
tax bill that increased the national
debt by $1.5 trillion dollars should be
a wake-up call for all Americans.
We need laws that empower every
working man and woman to earn a way
into the middle class. This should be the
Trump administration's central mission.
We the people cannot rely on the
promises or the terrible tax bill being
proposed by the GOP to help in any
way. The choice is to take action to
restore our middle class or to submit
to the efforts being made to assure its
disappearance.
Hospital situation
need of triage
College Hospital seems to be destined
Victory Memorial Hospital, Peninsula
Vincent’s Hospital.
proposed plans are short on service to
on dollars in the pockets of developers.
believe that, as the city grows,
increases
prospers,
fewer
health
Do we
chain
bank on
hospitals?
the company that wins the proposal
be obligated to provide a large
facility to compensate for the
service hospital it will replace.
Congressmember Hakeem Jefferies
opportunity to complain that the NYPD
low-level marijuana arrests in
hinted that this may be an indication
Blasio is really not serious about
following through on his campaign
promises to assure the NYPD scrupulously honors
individual citizens civil rights.
He stated that the “new administration promised
change but instead we get more of the same.”
That is not true. The number of arrests for low-level
marijuana possession
has dropped and NYPD
policy is not to force a
suspect to display small
amounts of pot in order
to make an arrest.
Governor Cuomo has
proposed decriminalizing
possession of 15
grams or less of pot whether hidden or in plain view,
which would take this controversy and its attendant
political baggage off the table. It would be nice to let
police offi cers perform their duties instead of being
pawns in a political chess game.
Mayor de Blasio has fulfi lled an incredible amount
of his promises in a very short time. He has imposed
the extra protection of an inspector general for the
NYPD and signed off on the laws passed by the City
Council which may leave police offi cers subject to
lawsuits for negligent performance of their duties.
He has provided universal pre K without a tax
increase. He is settling the outstanding municipal
worker contracts neglected by Mike Bloomberg for
the next mayor to handle. He is championing Vision
Zero to reduce traffi c fatalities to zero. It is unfair
to question his commitment to his ideals or to the
fulfi llment of his promises.
The City Council will pass 11 laws and four resolutions
to create a Vision Zero environment for our
streets. The new laws provide a lower speed limit for
city streets and enhanced penalties for reckless drivers.
The state legislature must approve the changes.
We also need the state legislature to provide a
reasonable number of speed cameras to enforce the
new laws. Let us hope that our legislators will work
together as a group to see that these changes and
improvements are made quickly.
Brian Kieran is an attorney who works as a Principal
Law Clerk in the Supreme Court of State of New
York in Kings County and is a Democrat.
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Brian Kieran is a community activist who works
Double decked headline
fit alloted space
“Mayor de Blasio has ful lled an incredible
Mayor amount Bloomberg of his promises continues in a very to push short
a
fantasy time.
that, if he had more power,
everything would be okay. When so
much is at stake, it is not the time to
make political statements or play
games”.
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Brian Kieran is a community activist who works
for the State of New York and is a Democrat.
Double decked headline
fit alloted space
“Mayor Bloomberg continues to push a
fantasy that, if he had more power,
everything would be okay. When so
much is at stake, it is not the time to
make political statements or play
games”.
us never forget
BY BRIAN KIERAN
The people have a right to a decent
wage, public education, the
safety net of Social Security and
affordable healthcare.
SEASON GREETINGS
My wife Janet and I spent
Thanksgiving visiting Janet's
family in Lake Charles,
Louisiana. Lake Charles is a small city
of 72,000 people located in southwest
Louisiana about 30 miles in from the
Texas border.
It recently made the news as a result
of Hurricane Harvey. Thankfully, it
was not as a result of the city being
devastated by flooding but rather due
to President Trump flying into Lake
Charles to visit emergency responders
who were using Lake Charles as a
staging area.
Lake Charles was not totally unaffected
by the storm, receiving something
like 12 inches of rain in three
days as well as high winds which
affected power. This however was
nothing compared with points west
that received 30 or more inches of rain
in the same period of time with higher,
longer sustained winds for several
days. Many areas in Texas are still a
long way from fully recovering.
Besides being on average 10 or more
degrees warmer than New York City
on Thanksgiving, the other major
difference is that everything is closed.
There might be one or two diners open
for breakfast. There are no merchants
running sales until the evening and
that is only at some stores at one larger
mall.
Thanksgiving, as it should be, is a
time for family not sales or Christmas
shopping. Interestingly, many tune
into the Macy's Day Parade and very
much enjoy the big balloons.
One similarity to New York is that
lots of Christmas lights go up before
Thanksgiving and are lit the next
night. And believe it or not they have
a stretch of mansions on their Shore
Road bordering the lake which rivals
the lights of Dyker Heights.
* * *
A recent economic development
report on upstate New York indicated
that the three casinos that Governor
Cuomo actively lobbied for constitutional
and legislative changes to establish
are not living up to claims of being
a solid revenue source for the local
economies of many suffering cities.
I do not know why anybody is surprised.
The lobbyists who were being
paid enormous amounts of money
to push these casinos were always
making assumptions on revenue
that used data that did not reflect the
over-saturation of gambling that was
sure to occur as a result of Cuomo's
poorly thought-out policies as well
as the effect of legalized gambling
in Pennsylvania and Canada and on
Indian reservations.
And next to none of the discussion
concerned itself with the negative
social effects and costs of creating so
many new gambling locations.
Actually, besides costing the taxpayers
of the state tens of billions of
tax dollars, just about all of the Cuomo
administration's large injections of
money, policy changes and support for
gambling has had no long-term effect
on improving the sagging economy
west of Syracuse.
Population continues to move away,
the ability to attract professionals and
the brain drain are growing problems
and the taint of corruption has left the
governor with few victories he can
brag about. Even the former western
New York economic development
director Sam Hoyt is immersed in a
very serious sexual harassment scandal
that the governor's office failed to
address even though it was notified
long before anything went public.
Those who live in New York City
may wonder why they should care. I
go back to my original point that tens
of billions in taxpayer dollars have
been injected into the upstate economy
with no lasting effect. New York City
residents provide more than their fair
share of state tax dollars.
The upstate economy is sure to be
an issue upstate in next year's gubernatorial
election. It should be an issue
statewide.
Thanksgiving, as it should be,
is a time for family not sales or
Christmas shopping.