new song-- "vote Tyner tax Wall Street"!...

MC Whitebread in full effect, y'all-- yea boyeeee......

last year Wall Street made sixty billion
but Cuomo won't tax 'em one million
speculators still makin' a killin'
it's alright-- Joel Tyner top illin'

like Jake and Elwood-- we on a mission
the Better Choice Budget Coalition
so massive that Cuomo just wishin'
we risin' up-- don't need no permission

can't wait no more to turn New York around
Cuomo solution-- more trickle-down
need a real Dem-- not a sell-out clown
listen close-- you can hear a little sound

folks wakin' up all over the state
had enough of leaders sellin' out our fate
we need first-class-- not no second rate
help Joel Tyner-- 'fore it's too late

vote Tyner-- tax Wall Street
no finer-- come on move your feet
vote Tyner-- save Main Street
no whiner-- come on feel the beat

gotta find more money-- save every school
time to tax Wall Street-- but Cuomo a tool
of the rich and powerful-- sell-out fool
no we ain't shuttin' up-- no golden rule

FDR got us out of the Depression
Cuomo trickle-down ain't gonna lift the recession
Better Choice Budget Coalition ain't messin'
tax Wall Street-- save jobs-- the lesson

just say no to four years of budget hell
'cause our schools and our counties ain't well
no money for nothin' if you couldn't tell
roots comin' alive tho-- rock the bell

see the Emperor ain't got no clothes
and we're tired of holdin' our nose
Cuomo's economic agenda blows
Andy sellin' us out and it shows

vote Tyner-- tax Wall Street
no finer-- come on move your feet
vote Tyner-- save Main Street
no whiner-- come on feel the beat

gotta save New York State right now
Cuomo sell-outs-- hope you don't have a cow
Tyner time-- sorry Cuomo-- yeah ciao
MC Whitebread in effect-- take a bow

truth right in front of Cuomo's face
but he pretend there ain't no trace
Wall Street fat cats can't erase
OK tho-- Tyner on the case

cut our taxes-- stock transfer tax
what I ask is-- why Cuomo so lax
Wall Street maxes-- why Andy relax
cut our taxes-- so we makin' tracks

Cuomo tryin' to make unions look bad
FDR spinnin' in his grave-- so sad
Andrew sellin' us out like his dad
ain't gonna take it any more-- we mad

Cuomo's idea of reform-- a joke
Wall Street full 'o money-- we broke
put the pipe down Andy-- you smoke?
time to tax the rich-- yeah a super soak

vote Tyner-- tax Wall Street
no finer-- come on move your feet
vote Tyner-- save Main Street
no whiner-- come on feel the beat

support my progressive run for Dem nomination for Governor of NYS!...

[mark your calendars-- March for Main Street Not Wall Street from NYC to Albany June 25th to July 5th!...let us know if u can help us with this folks...(serious about this; let's turn NYS politics upside-down!]

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Hi all...

Yes, I'm challenging "new Democrat" Andrew Cuomo for the Democratic nomination for Governor of New York State (scroll down just a bit to see 20-point agenda to match his 250 pages)...

[join 40 others signed on @ http://www.petitiononline.com/joel4ny since Tues.]

[over 110 folks from across NYS signed on to "Joel for New York" on Facebook just since Monday night too!]

Media coverage already from all over NYS on my run (will also be on WDST and WKZE Mon./Tues.:

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20100528/NEWS01/100527044/Tyner-challenging-Cuomo-for-governor
http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/2010/May/26/Tyner_gov-26May10.html ;
http://www.dailyfreeman.com/articles/2010/05/26/news/doc4bfd04df006a6261222025.txt
http://centralny.ynn.com/content/top_stories/505963/tyner-running-for-governor/
http://centralny.ynn.com/content/all_news/506083/tyner-begins-long-shot-run-for-governor/ :
http://elmira-corning.ynn.com/ ; http://twitter.com/ynnalbany ;
http://binghamton.ynn.com ;http://www.news-spider.com/comments/1274881490 ...

First...

I'm not only one in NYS disgruntled with Cuomo's right-ward tilt-- recall this from Monday's Daily News-- it's already come out publicly that they're looking for someone like Alec Baldwin to primary him:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2010/05/24/2010-05-24_would_alec_rock_wfp_ballot_line.html !...
[but Baldwin makes it plain in this piece that he's not interested in doing this; WFP convention next Sat.]

Last reminder-- if you can, please come out to join folksinger extraordinaire Pat Lamanna and guitarist extraordinaire Tom Baldino @ Rich Carlson's today at 3 pm for house party to kick off my true progressive "Joel for New York" campaign to challenge Cuomo for the Dem line for the Gov. race!...

Rich's house is at 3 Bowdoin Lane in Wappingers Falls-- 12590; call him at 632-1552 for more info...

[re: music-- see Pat: http://www.CDBaby.com/CD/PatLamanna , Tom-- http://www.NostalgiaSwing.com ]

Again-- confirmed from NYS Board of Elections in Albany-- need bare minimum of 15,000 signatures from Dems across NYS (at least 100 from half of the congressional districts in state) collected from June 8th to July 12th to be on primary ballot for September-- meaning that if even just 100 volunteers in grass roots each collected ten signatures a day, that would be 30,000-- magic double...

And-- have you taken a look at a map of New York's congressional districts?...fact is that just here in Murphy's district, along with Hinchey's district, and Hall's district, and NYC districts all added up together are well over half of the congressional districts in the state-- THIS IS DOABLE, FOLKS, IF YOU CARE!...

[see much more on this whole process here-- http://www.elections.state.ny.us/RunningOffice.html ; I've already started reaching out to progressive elected NYC officials to run with me as Lt. Gov. candidate]

Second...

Did you know that, in spite of the school budget passing this month, that here in the Rhinebeck Central School District massive cuts were already made, eliminating $$$ for all field trips, intramural sports, after-school activity bus, Arts-in-Education, athletic supplies, and extracurricular clubs-- and teachers?...

[...and I assume you've also been reading about schools closing in Arlington & City of Poughkeepsie...]

I've read Cuomo's plans-- all 200+ pages (see them for yourself @ http://www.AndrewCuomo.com )...

And I agree with Thursday's New York Times editorial-- "Budget Problems in New York and Mr. Cuomo"
[see: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/27/opinion/27thu4.html -- how unrealistic they are re: problems]...

Fact: Cuomo's plans won't help local schools struggling-- as he refuses to lift a finger to push for a truly fair and progressive system of taxation (as Cahill has; see http://www.PetitionOnline.com/FAIRTAX ).

Third-- re: Dutchess County budget...

[recall this from May 6th Daily Freeman-- GOP Co. Leg. majority blow new $3 million hole in budget, too:
http://www.freemanonline.com/articles/2010/05/06/news/doc4be24406acab0529029992.txt ]

Fact: As it is now already all of the following cuts went through in the 2010 Dutchess County Budget:
[despite best efforts from yours truly on this; thanks to 118 of you signed on to my http://www.PetitionOnline.com/SaveDuCo petition effort to find alternative cost-savers to these cuts here; recall my similar http://www.petitiononline.com/stopcuts effort from late 2008 as well; same story]

-- $1,000,000-plus cut to our county's Board of Elections (shortstaffing for 2010- though huge elections this year)
-- $26,000 cut to the Dutchess County Office of Veterans Affairs (part-time employee laid off)
-- $233,000 cut to our county's Office for the Aging (Senior Friendship Centers now on 4-day weeks instead of 5-day)
-- $209,839 cut to Dutchess County Community Action Agency (meaning less services, layoffs)
-- $200,000-plus cut to DCDOH- laying off 4 county employees, eliminating county's senior home care program
-- $185,000 cut to Cornell Cooperative Extension (meaning less services, layoffs)
-- $165,960 cut to the Astor Home for Children (meaning less services, layoffs)
-- $114,000 cut to Family Services (meaning less services for the most vulnerable in our county)
-- $111,000 cut to Grace Smith House (meaning less services)
-- $106,987 cut to Hudson River Housing (in the midst of worst housing/foreclosure crisis in decades)
-- $56,553 cut to the Lexington Center for Recovery (shortfunding methadone clinic for heroin addicts)
-- $55,000 cut to Dutchess County Arts Council (meaning less services)
-- $41,000 cut to Mid-Hudson Library System (meaning less services)
-- $28,111 cut to the Mediation Center of Dutchess County (meaning less services)
-- $23,000 cut to Mental Health Association of Dutchess County (meaning less services)
-- $23,000 cut to BOCES (meaning less services in transition/re-entry program)
-- $11,000 cut to Lexington Center and $3000 cut to Literacy Connections (meaning less services)

Fact: As it is now already currently there are 35 less county employees than in 1987- yet there are 50,000 more people in Dutchess County.

Now consider these facts...

[this is why I'm running, folks: because to sit idly by, do nothing while Cuomo sells out would be insanity]

Fact: These members of the Better Choice Budget coalition all strongly support re-implementation of a stock transfer tax on Wall Street-- Dutchess Outreach, NYS Library Association, NYS Coalition Against Domestic Violence, NY Statewide Senior Action Council, NYS Alliance for Retired Americans, Interfaith Alliance of NYS, Interfaith Impact of NYS, Sierra Club, Environmental Advocates, Citizens Environmental Coalition, Citizen Action, NY Children's Action Network, NY Jobs with Justice, NYS AFL-CIO, CSEA, PEF, NYSUT, AFSCME, NYS Community Action Association, NYS Episcopal Public Policy Network, NYS Child Care Coordinating Council, New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness, Public Utility Law Project, Center for Working Families, Class Size Matters, Coalition for After-School Funding, Fiscal Policy Institute, Hunger Action Network of NYS, and many more-- see http://www.ABetterChoiceforNY.org/ .

Fact: By 3-to-1 ratio NY'ers for stock transfer tax on Wall St.-- to stop local tax hikes, budget cuts.
[join 39 other local folks signed to http://www.petitiononline.com/stocktax ; http://www.FiscalPolicy.org ]

Fact: Wall Street made $61 billion in profits last year, besides $20 billion in cash bonuses (Crain's).
[see: http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20100328/FREE/303289966 ]

Fact: The richest 1% of Americans own more than 95% of us (according to Wall Street Journal).
[see http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1206-01.htm ; http://www.EuropesPromise.org ]

Fact: 98% of small business owners in the U.S. make less than $250,000/year (Wall Street Journal).
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2008/oct/16/barack-obama/most-small-businesses-wont-be-subject-to-obamas-ta/

Fact: Millionaires used to pay 15.5% NY income tax rate in early 70's; they now pay less than 9%.
[see: http://www.fiscalpolicy.org/taxhistory2.htm ; http://www.ABetterChoiceforNY.org ]

[pass it on]

Joel
444-0599/876-2488
http://www.DutchessDemocracy.blogspot.com

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Again....

Remember the state budgets from '95, '96, '97, '98, '99, '00, '01, '02, '03, '04, '05, '06, '07, '08, last year?...

The God's honest truth is literally every year for the last fifteen years running I've battled massive budget cuts to education, health care, environmental protection, and the poor-- in my monthly columns for the Taconic Papers from 1995 until 2003 (remember them?)...and by organizing rallies, press conferences, flyer distribution, etc., etc., etc.-- for the first twelve years of that time battling Pataki's proposed budget cuts-- and for the last few years battling Spitzer's, and then Paterson's proposed budget cuts...

[many of you might also recall my energetic campaigns for state legislature in 1996, 1998, 2002, 2006]

And on that note-- frankly, one of the most disappointing and frustrating things about being a political activist over the last few years has been watching Spitzer and Paterson turn around and do almost exactly the same thing Pataki did from '95 thru '07-- huge budget cuts to education, health care, etc...

[...not to forget their shortfunding counties like Dutchess-- forcing legislators like myself to deal repeatedly with untenable choices of massive county budget cuts, property tax hikes, and/or sales tax hikes-- sometimes all three(!)...(as in this past winter-- anyone else remember this?)...again-- check out
http://www.petitiononline.com/stocktax -- county budget cuts; http://www.PetitionOnline.com/SaveDuCo ]

So I had hoped that perhaps-- maybe-- perhaps Cuomo might offer us something different in 2010...

[...and I'm glad he's for same-sex marriage, independent redistricting, and at least some ethics reform...]

But it is unconscionable, quite frankly, that Cuomo has almost completely capitulated to right-wing conservative ideology on tax/budget issues and the neoliberal punditocracy consensus that's built up over years for Cuomo's economic talking points that spell only more doom and gloom for New York's middle class-- "no new income taxes", "freezing state employee salaries", "capping state spending", and a "property tax cap"...
[re: property tax cap-- crucial facts here: http://www.fiscalpolicy.org/PropertyTaxCapPressRelease.pdf ]

Again, Cuomo's proposals confirm the suspicions many of us had that, similar to Spitzer, and counter to his taking on Wall Street as AG, Cuomo is, unfortunately, unwilling to take on the true special interests and real power structure in our state-- not organizations who represent working people (unions who are outspent ten-to-one in Albany re: lobbying/donations)-- but Wall Street, corporations...

[looks like Andrew will be enacting massive budget cuts like Mario did in late 80's (after which NYS still lost 500,000 jobs-- in wake of Mario's slashing income taxes for corporations and rich then)-- just as Pataki did same thing from 1995-2006-- just as Spitzer and Paterson have done...new boss = old boss]

Too bad-- looks like Cuomo will very much need us to remind him that unless middle class is brought back to life in Hudson Valley and across NYS, there's no way our state's economy can come back...

[not that GOP would be any better on any of this, of course-- but we shouldn't settle for anything but best]

Recall facts from http://www.fiscalpolicy.org/RevisedFPIBudgetBook_20100203.pdf (Fiscal Policy Inst.):

Fact: State spending now in New York as % of GDP is now about 6.9%; in 1994 it was higher-- 7.4%.

Fact: NYS now spends about $12 billion on employee wages/salaries-- less than 20 years ago in 1990.

Fact: Consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of GDP (Wall Street Journal), but high unemployment and high consumer debt burdens will temper consumer spending and restrain the pace of recovery.

Fact: According to the NYC Independent Budget Office, 73% of income growth in New York between 2002 and 2007 went to a small number of families at the top; the total income of the top 5 percent grew more than four times as fast as total income of the other 95 percent.

Fact: Millionaires now pay only 8.4% of their income in state/local taxes we in middle class pay 11%.

Fact: VT, CT, PA, NJ, MA all have higher monthly unemployment payments than NY; this hurts NY'ers.

Fact: To restore the state minimum wage to its July 1970 peak purchasing power, New York would have to increase its minimum wage to $9.46 by January 2013.

Wake up, progressives-- we need to raise ruckus NOW-- loudly against Cuomo's conservative and counterproductive plans that will hold NY back and prevent us from rebounding from its current funk...

Shame on Cuomo for taking so long to (barely) weigh in on current state budget mess-- and now that he's done so, he's still barely saying anything-- no real solutions offered for this year-- only opposition to Ravitch current plan to borrow $6 billion over next three years to help balance state budget (with new financial review board)..."he declined to say much about current budget impasse bedeviling Albany"...
[recall massive coalition for sensible revenue alternatives @ http://www.ABetterChoiceforNY.org ; also see: http://www.fiscalpolicy.org/CWF_FPI_NewYorkHasTheWaysAndMeans.pdf (great FPI/CWF report)]

I'll give this to Cuomo, tho-- he's right about one thing-- that the possibility for real reform still is with US:

[quote here below from Cuomo is from Poughkeepsie Journal]

"You go to the people first and you get the people on your side. You get the people supporting a specific set of reforms," Cuomo said. "We can say to the Democrats and the Republicans in January, 'The people of the state have spoken.' Politicians tend to follow what the people in their districts want done."
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20100523/NEWS12/100523010/Cuomo-says-he-ll-reform-Albany-as-governor

So-- at least Cuomo recognizes power of us in the grass roots-- let's show him how grass roots feel!...

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Comments here below from some signed on to www.petitiononline.com/joel4ny just since Tues.:

40. Stephanie Bonk Good Luck Joel 1062 Bulls Head Road, Clinton corners, NY 12514
39. Linda Abbott Joel Tyner will be a much needed progressive voice. He is a tireless activist who is unafraid to take on unpopular causes. 541 East 20th Street NY NY 10010
38. Jaison Cook Go Joel! P.O.Box 31, Pleasant Valley, NY 12569
37. Constance Young Finally Joel offers a thoughtful and compassionate change from the tired business-as-usual crowd 30 Myrtle Avenue,Pine Plains NY 12567
36. James Baldauf Protect us from corporate takeover 10 Whispering Pines Way; 12804
35. Joseph M. Lamb Joel Tyner gets my vote!!!!!! 176 Sheridan Ave; Albany; NY; 12210
34. Lisa Ford The one problem I have with your platform is although I'm all for raising the minimum wage - it does nothing for those only slightly above that. Not sure how it could be accomplished but what's really needed is a shift of the bottom portion of the payscale upward. 12054
33. Vincent Ferri It is time to take NYS back for the regular folk. 10941-3634
32. Janet Couch Joel's Progressive idiology is right for NYS 111 Lakeside Dr. Pawling, NY 12564
31. Emily Fiore Here, Here! Poughkeepsie NY 12603
30. stephanie lewis love you joel! 198 willow ave cornwall, ny 12518
29. tammy raffaele Go Joel! 12561
28. Richard mhugh democracy and primaries are a beautiful thing. 154 chelsea rd ,wappingers falls 12590
27. Shannon Kane yeah 120 Maple Lane, Hudson, NY 12534
26. susan mahoney good luck, you are the man for the job. 12601
25. Joe Faso Tyner is essential for New York State 54 Elizabeth Street
24. Rebecca Wittman I will definitely vote for you in the primary. We need real Democratic representation, not the lukewarm "Republican" kind offered by Cuomo and his ilk! 7884 Gorton Lake Road, Waterville, NY 13480
23. John V. Mizzi, P.E. Joel has the agenda and the energy; now he needs our support! 30 Cramer Road, Poughkeepsie, NY 12603
22. Maribel Pregnall Joel is a trustworthy, smart and forward thinking choice! 18 Mt. View Rd,Poughkeepsie, NY 12603
21. Teresa Dixon I am visualising Joel winning already 3 Ann St New Paltz NY 12661
20. Dana Tompkins Joel, you are the one person that I would be willing to help. If there is anything you need, let me know, and if I can do it, I will. 12545
19. Joe Seeman now THIS is a real progressive agenda! POB2214, 12020
18. Rosemary Grabowska Go Joel Tyner! 9 Collegeview ave Apt 1 Poughkeepsie, Ny 12603
17. Mark Reichelt Hoping you go AllThe Way! 12572
16. Patricia Zolnik thanks Joel for always standing up for what you believe is the best for the middle class of NY 93 Deer Ridge Drive,. Staatsburg, NY 12580
15. Clifford Gardner My full support 22 montgomery st apt 5O poughkeepsie ny 12601
14. Glen Heinsohn For the people a real man with heart 12590
13. Lori Arkin Joel walks the walk 127 Primrose Hill Road, Rhinebeck, NY 12572
12. Stefan Lisowski Joel is the one hope left for humanity. 123 Burr's Crossing, Rosendale, NY 12472
11. Shaleah Patterson Great! I'm all for this petition! 11 Jewett Avenue Poughkeepsie, NY 12601
10. Ruth Detjen change is needed in Albany, and so are other options. 12603
9. Elaine Fernandez It's time for change! 12210
8. Richard R Carlson Joel is a truely dedicated progressive,and always gives his all to creating a better world. 3 Bowdoin Lane,Wappingers Falls,N.Y.12590-3920
7. Joshua Farrell Joel Tyner, a true man of the people, will be an outstanding Governor! 12524
6. Dianne Engleke It's time for courage and intelligence and honesty to return to Albany.....that's Joel. 12546
5. Kevin Barratt Budget cuts to education and health care wont fly with a new Democratic Governor. It's time we start taxing Wall Street! 12580
4. Nora Edwards Go, Joel. 10 Aldrich Rd ,Wingdale, NY 12594
3. Adam Beitman Joel is the most dedicated public servant ive ever met Graduate, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie NY
2. George Quasha A noble challenger with the right ideas 124 Station Hill Road, Barrytown, NY 12507
1. Tim McCormick Vassar for Tyner! 124 Raymond Ave, Poughkeepsie NY 12604

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Not trying to overly toot my own horn (but sometimes this is necessary; sorry!)-- I've been extremely effective in moving a progressive agenda forward over the last seven years I've served Rhinebeck and Clinton in our County Legislature (now starting a fourth term)-- whether in the minority or the majority...

It is also a fact as well that both Rhinebeck and Clinton were G.O.P. bastions for decades before I won election to our County Legislature in 2003-- and in 2005 and 2007 elections I got more votes than any other Democrat in County Legislature (also, frankly, other Dems won with smaller margin in '09 too)...

As a member of the minority in our County Legislature from 2004 through 2007, I got $100,000 added to our county budget to make sure homeless veterans no longer turned away from shelter, successfully led the fight to stop G.O.P. proposal to end county-run senior home care in the county, added tens of thousands of dollars to senior home care for the county budget, initiated a 30% discount on defibrillators for county residents from GEPickering.com, initiated the Resource Recovery Agency taking back compact fluorescent light bulbs, initiated our county's Health Department outreach to restaurants re: trans fats in cooking oils, initiated increased purchase of hybrid vehicles for county fleet, initiated move for Family Justice Center for victims of domestic violence, led county research for past decade on groundwater contamination from MTBE, and author of annual reports since 1997 exposing millions of county tax dollars in legalized kickbacks (see http://www.RealMajorityProject.blogspot.com ; http://www.petitiononline.com/cleangov )...

In February I succeeded in getting strong bipartisan support in our County Legislature for a resolution to pass against Central Hudson's rate hike-- and just this month I got GOP Co. Leg.'s Horton, Traudt, Sadowski, Surman, and Thomes all to co-sign a letter I circulated about Lyme insurance issues (that I had gotten Goldberg, Kuffner, Jeter-Jackson, MacAvery, Doxsey, and White to sign on to as well)...

I've successfully worked with students of all ages and backgrounds now for literally the last twenty-three years-- now in the Hudson City School District-- before that for the Ridge School, Little Tikes Daycare, the Belmont School of Global Studies (P.S. 32) in the Bronx, the City of Poughkeepsie School District, Christ Episcopal Church Summer Camp, Community Family Development, Devereux Center, etc...

For the last twenty-three years I've hosted a show on WVKR 91.3 FM http://www.wvkr.org/ with guests like Pete Seeger, Bill McKibben, Scott Murphy, Kirsten Gillibrand, Maurice Hinchey, John Hall, Kevin Cahill, Greg Palast, et. al. (now on Fridays 5-6 pm)-- and for the last two years I've hosted a Saturday morning call-in talk show on WHVW 950 AM as well (from 8 to 10 am)...(and for most of the last decade I've also been interviewed repeatedly on WAMC Northeast Public Radio too; see www.petitiononline.com/statewar for Albany Times-Union article a few years ago documenting my efforts and research investigating our county's EDC/IDA programs)...

Note-- Andrew Cuomo is a good man, and I don't disagree with him on all of his proposals-- but on far too much of his tax/budget platform he has all but completely capitulated to the right wing-- and has made it clear in the newspapers here in late May that he is bent on getting the public and legislators behind his neoliberal agenda that will finish off our state's middle class (what's left of it). ...but to the point-- here's why I'm running... [and if you all support me and help me get enough petition signatures at least we'll send a message together to the increasingly Blue-Dog Dem power structure here in NYS that we progressives aren't going to roll over and play dead-- that we won't be taken for granted!]

Ball's in your court now, folks...(even if this campaign fails we can send a strong tax/budget message)...

Sorry-- I just couldn't stomach watching quietly from the sidelines as our state and party are killed...

Join us if you can tomorrow 12:30 pm for campaign kickoff at main entrance to FDR site in Hyde Park!...

[...and again-- $$$ needed-- at Joel for New York-- 324 Browns Pond Road Staatsburg, NY 12580...]

Pass it on!"

[si se puede-- yes we can]

Joel Tyner
(845) 444-0599/876-2488
joeltyner@earthlink.net

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Bring Back New York's Middle Class: A Twenty-Point Progressive Agenda for Main St. Not Wall St.:

[...how many more years should we have to wait for these?...none of these are really radical, are they...]

1. Re-implement stock transfer tax on Wall Street and make wealthy New Yorkers once again pay their fair share of taxes-- to fully fund our schools, hospitals, parks, libraries, towns, counties, cities, villages, EPF, DEC, etc.-- and slash property taxes-- while funding pensions, child care, university education for all as in Germany (where economy is thriving because middle class has been preserved!).
[see: http://www.ABetterChoiceforNY.org ; join dozens @ my http://www.petitiononline.com/stocktax ]

2. Enact state-level single-payer health care system in NY; save $20 billion/year (VT moving this way).
[see: http://www.SinglePayerNewYork.org ; http://www.HungerActionNYS.org ]

3. Enact ten-dollar-an-hour minimum wage to bolster middle class (to reflect real value it had in 1970).
[see: http://www.LetJusticeRoll.org ]

4. Co-determination/supervisory boards as in Germany-- at least half of all members of corporate boards of directors have to be directly elected by workers (this would incredibly bolster middle class).
[see: http://www.EuropesPromise.org ]

5. Initiate a state-owned bank as in North Dakota (as Michael Moore has recommended). http://motherjones.com/mojo/2009/03/how-nation%E2%80%99s-only-state-owned-bank-became-envy-wall-street

6. Create green jobs get solar/energy-efficiency retrofit loans NOW to homeowners and businesses.
[join dozens signed to my http://www.PetitionOnline.com/SOLAR ; http://www.LIGreenHomes.com ]

7. Save tax dollars and create jobs with zero-waste approach to resource recovery (not burn/burying).
[join 70 signed to my http://www.petitiononline.com/zeroyes http://www.StopTrashingtheClimate.org ]

8. Enact an immediate moratorium on natural-gas drilling to protect drinking water in our watersheds.
[join 891 signed on to my http://www.PetitionOnline.com/NoDrill ]

9. Ban toxic chemicals from being allowed to be in household products-- especially items for children
[see: http://www.Clean-NY.org ; http://www.HealthyStuff.org ; http://www.EWG.org ]

10. Clean Money Clean Elections campaign finance reform to clean up Albany; free TV for candidates.
[see: http://citizenactionny.org/category/archive/reports/public-financing-reports ]

11. Keep accurate, transparent lever voting machines; HAVA does not mandate computerized voting.
[see: http://www.ETCNYS.org ; http://www.ElectionDefenseAlliance.org ]

12. Monthly mandatory Question Time for Governor w/state leg.'s (idea from Liz Krueger/Micah Kellner)
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2010/05/24/2010-05-24_2_pols_wanna_put_gov_on_spot.html

13. Instant runoff voting (ranked)-- allow voters to truly be able to vote their hopes instead of their fears
[sign on to my http://www.PetitionOnline.com/IRVnow ]

14. Initiative and referendum for NY-- as twenty-six states across the U.S. have now already
[join 12 signed: my http://www.petitiononline.com/initrefr http://www.newrules.org/governance/rules/ ]

15. Pass amendment to U.S. Constitution to make it 100% perfectly clear: corporations aren't people.
[see: http://www.MoveToAmend.org ; Rep.'s Hinchey and Hall both agree!]

16. Make sure health insurance for Lyme disease in NY is more than a month of antibiotics (like CT/RI).
[join 330+ signed on to my http://www.PetitionOnline.com/StopLyme ; see http://www.ILADS.org ]

17. Reform criminal justice system to save money with re-entry, reducing recidivism.
[see: http://www.Vera.org ; sign my http://www.PetitionOnline.com/ATIs ]

18. Decriminalize marijuana; stop incarceration for nonviolent drug offenses; bring in new tax revenue.
[see: http://www.CSDP.org ; http://www.NORML.org ]

19. Photo ID cards for undocumented workers as in Trenton, Princeton, New Haven, San Francisco.
[see http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/23/opinion/23sun3.html http://www.petitiononline.com/newhaven ]

20. Bring back New York State's National Guard troops from Afghanistan and Iraq without delay.
[see: http://www.CitiesforPeace.org ; http://www.DutchessPeace.org ; http://www.PeaceAction.org ]




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From http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=920718 ...

Look to Wall Street for help
By FRANK MAURO AND RON DEUTSCH

First published in print in the Albany Times-Union: Monday, April 12, 2010

With New York, like other states, still reeling from a devastating national recession, Gov. David Paterson and the Legislature are proposing budget plans that rely overwhelmingly on cuts to essential public services. This, they imply, would hurt the economy less than a more balanced approach that includes some economically sensible revenue choices. Nothing could be further from economic reality.

The painful irony of the current crisis is that people's needs are rising while the resources available to the states to meet those needs are shrinking. Reacting to this situation by offering even less help to struggling families not only hurts people trying to get back on their feet, but it's also bad for the state's economy.

Several years ago, during a previous national recession, Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz and Peter Orszag, now director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, wrote a paper explaining why. They took into account the fact that most tax dollars that states collect go for salaries and purchases that are spent quickly and close to home -- the essence of economic stimulus.

Stiglitz and Orszag found that reducing this type of spending, especially when the economy already suffers from a faltering private sector, is actually more damaging in the short run than tax increases focused on the portions of higher income households' incomes that are the least likely to be spent in the local economy.

The budget cuts being proposed by the governor and Legislature would go in the other direction. These cuts would pull the rug from under many New York families. And just in the areas of education and health care alone, they would add 30,000 more New Yorkers to the unemployment rolls and threaten this fragile recovery.

Under a balanced approach to the state budget, revenues should be raised in ways that would hurt the economy the least; and should be used to reduce the extent of the spending cuts and to provide meaningful property tax relief.

While most families and businesses are struggling economically, Wall Street is enjoying record profits -- an estimated $61 billion last year. That's triple the previous record set in 2006 and it adds up to very generous salaries and bonuses, all on the heels of the recent trillion dollar, taxpayer-funded bailout. Wall Street bounced back quickly, but Main Street remains mired in the aftermath of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression -- a crisis, by the way, caused in large part by finance sector excesses.

Wall Street could not have recovered so quickly without Main Street's helping hand.

Now it's time for Wall Street to return the favor and help Main Street.

There are several ways in which Wall Street could help prevent the most disastrous cuts to essential state and local public services that are now being considered by the Legislature.

For example, temporarily lowering from 100 percent to 80 percent the portion of the state's Stock Transfer Tax that is rebated would produce about $3.2 billion a year. In effect, this change would impose a tax of only one cent per share on shares selling for more than $20 each, and as little as a quarter of a cent per share for shares selling for less than $5 per share.

Another approach would involve a temporary moratorium on the ability of businesses to offset current profits with prior years' losses. This would ensure that profitable firms contribute on an "ability to pay" basis during the current downturn.

In a crisis like this, it's easy to forget about the future. Just getting through each day is tough enough. But New York can't afford to be so short-sighted. Education, affordable health care and housing, vital state services, a strong safety net and a sound transportation system are all essential for a prosperous economy. Cutting too deeply in those areas today will hurt the state. But a balanced approach that includes economically sensible revenue increases would be a sound investment that New York can't afford not to make.

Frank Mauro is executive director of the Fiscal Policy Institute. Ron Deutsch is executive director of New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness.

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From http://www.fiscalpolicy.org/CWF_FPI_NewYorkHasTheWaysAndMeans.pdf ...

"April 2010: New York Has the Ways and Means: How and Why Wall Street Should Give Back"

This report was researched and written by Sunshine Ludder, a Senior Policy Organizer at the Center for
Working Families and James Parrott, FPI's Chief Economist and Deputy Director. Special thanks to Emmaia Gelman, Policy Director at CWF; David Palmer, Executive Director of CWF; Frank Mauro, Executive Director of FPI; David Dyssegaard Kallick, Senior Fellow at FPI; and Jo Brill,
Director of Communications at FPI.

The Solution: A four-part action plan

To address the current recession’s challenges while moving New York toward a sensible long-term
balance between spending and revenues, a four-part action plan of temporary and permanent measures is needed.

I—Enact temporary tax measures that recapture some of Wall Street’s profit windfall to spur Main
Street’s recovery.

Given Wall Street’s extraordinary 2009 profits underwritten in full by a taxpayer bailout, New York’s
financial industry is well-positioned to help bring fiscal stability to the state, and tax relief and basic
fairness to working New Yorkers. Some mix of the following four options should be considered, with a
goal of raising $6 billion per year for two years.

? Temporary bonus recapture tax. A modified version of the U.K. bonus tax, the New York
plan will levy a payroll tax on bonuses worth at least $50,000 and paid to employees
receiving total annual compensation of $250,000 or more. The tax should start at 25 percent
of eligible bonuses, and reach 50 percent when total compensation passes $500,000. The tax
is structured as a temporary tax on all bonus compensation, including deferred bonuses
whether paid as cash, stock, or stock options.

? Temporary reduction of Stock Transfer Tax rebates. New York has had a stock transfer
tax on the books since 1905, but the state has returned it through an automatic 100 percent
rebate since 1981. Last year, the value of stock transfer rebates was $14.5 billion. Retaining
just 20 percent of the rebate would have generated revenue of $2.9 billion. A temporary
reduction of the rebate will not trigger an exodus of financial firms—and it will provide a
major source of revenue.

? Suspension of the carry-forward provision for 2007 and 2008 net operating losses for
financial firms. This measure will suspend the ability of large firms to reduce their New
York corporate income tax liability on profits in 2009 or future years based on losses in 2007
or 2008. Those losses have been more than made up by 2009’s record profits, thanks to the
taxpayer bailouts and low Federal Reserve interest rates.

? Windfall profits tax. Wall Street’s largest banks posted record profits in 2009—entirely as a
result of government economic policies and taxpayer resources. At the same time, Main
Street New York businesses are starved for capital, and still mired in the “Great Recession.”
A one-time windfall tax should be levied on financial firms whose profits exceed a certain
threshold for 2009 and 2010.

II—Close loopholes and reform New York’s tax system to make it fairer and more effective.

State tax loopholes and credits to big businesses, and financial firms in particular, siphon away hundreds of millions of dollars yearly, with very little return for taxpayers. New York should right the balance by reclaiming a fair share of taxes from business and reducing the tax burden on households. Under New York’s state and local tax system, low- and middle-income families contribute greater shares of family income to support government services than wealthier taxpayers. Reforms to property taxes, personal income taxes and corporate taxes can make the system fairer and more productive.

? The state’s taxation of financial firms should be updated to respond to several changes in the
industry’s structure and practices, and enact reforms that will generate ongoing annual revenues
of more than $300 million. The state should also seriously consider placing a temporary cap on
corporate tax credits, which have grown in recent years to a cost of $4.5 billion.

? New York State should reform its personal income tax structure to increase the progressivity of
that tax on a permanent basis while providing the revenue necessary to reduce the pressure that is
currently placed on local property and sales tax bases, and to meet New York's pressing budget
needs on a recurring and sustainable basis.

III—Support federal action to counter the recession and modernize state corporate income taxation.

New York government, labor, business and civic leaders should work with their counterparts in other states and at the national level to secure a much-needed extension of state fiscal relief; fund a robust job creation package; and repeal the federal law that prohibits states from drawing income tax from corporations whose profits are based on New York sales but who do not have property or employees in New York.

IV—Give Main Street the help it needs.

The short-term revenues raised by the above recommendations should be used to help close the state’s recession-driven budget gaps and to begin the phase-in of a meaningful and well-targeted property tax “circuit breaker.”

The revenues from the permanent tax reforms and cost savings measures should be used to restore the state’s budget to structural balance while meeting the state’s important service commitments and funding a property tax circuit breaker on an ongoing basis.

New York State’s budget gaps should be closed in ways that foster fairness, sustained recovery and
broadly shared prosperity. In helping Main Street, it is essential that New York State keep the following objectives at the top of its priority list in both the short run and the long run:

? Restoring state aid to localities to reduce local tax burdens.
? Funding essential services and programs in the state budget.
? Investing in the state’s physical infrastructure, including mass transportation, to create jobs and
put New York workers back to work while maintaining the foundation for a prosperous New
York.

Three important facts about the bonus recapture tax:

#1: New York’s financial firms won’t move out of state.

The one-time bonus recapture tax will be collected as a payroll tax from the firms and banks paying out the big bonuses. Large New York City firms and banks won’t want to leave Manhattan or the infrastructure they rely on here—and pay all the costs of moving their firms—just to avoid a one or two year tax. As a payroll tax, the tax is collected from the firm regardless of where an employee lives.

#2: The UK taxes big bonuses, and London’s financial industry is thriving.

The UK passed a one-time bonus payroll tax last December, aimed at London’s financial center. Financial firms made a lot of noise, but none of them has left London. The Conservative Party candidate for prime minister recently proposed a permanent bank tax to fund a permanent tax break for married couples. The Financial Times quoted a Conservative official, “Nobody has claimed that [the already enacted bonus tax] has undermined the City’s competitiveness.”

Early reports suggest that bonuses have not been reduced in proportion to the UK bonus tax. The UK tax was initially expected to raise £550m, but estimates are now over £3 billion. The revenue outcome looks very strong, but as for the British government’s stated goal of reducing the practice of high-flying bonus payments, it does not seem to have worked.

The UK’s tax on bonus compensation is much steeper than what’s proposed for New York: The UK tax reaches all bonuses over £25,000 ($40,000) with a flat 50 percent. Early reports are that most UK firms continued to pay bonuses heavily in cash even after the imposition of the tax—which should not be too surprising, since the tax also reaches bonuses given as stock and other forms of deferred awards.

#3: A Bonus Recapture Tax will amount to less than 10 percent of Wall Street’s 2009
profits.

A one-time tax on big bonuses will not jeopardize Wall Street firms, but it will provide critical revenue for what’s really in jeopardy—New York’s working families. The added $4.7—6.9 billion revenue from taxing super-bonuses will mean urgently needed property tax relief for New York’s working families and urgently needed revenues to help close New York’s deficit and get the state back on track to fiscal stability.

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[see quotes below from Dutchess' own Ed McCormick and Robert McKeon of http://www.TrendNY.org ; go to http://www.FiscalPolicy.org & http://www.ABetterChoiceforNY.org for more on this; too bad Cuomo capitulating to mainstream media consensus that teacher unions are "special interests"-- instead of demonstrating true courage and really going after Wall Street: http://www.petitiononline.com/stocktax ...
and perhaps more important than anything-- see real solution: http://www.OmnibusTaxSolution.org !]

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From http://www.fiscalpolicy.org/PropertyTaxCapPressRelease.pdf ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Ron Deutsch
New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness
Office: (518) 452-2130
Cell: (518) 469-6769

BROAD-BASED COALITION UNITES TO OPPOSE ARBITRARY PROPERTY TAX CAP

ALBANY, N.Y. June 10, 2008 – A broad-based coalition representing more than one
million New Yorkers today criticized legislation that would allow Albany -- under a proposed
property tax cap – to take away the voice of voters; impose artificial limits on local school
spending; and abandon its promise to ensure equity in the education funding formula.

The coalition acknowledged the need for property tax relief, but said an artificial cap – like
the one endorsed by Gov. David Paterson – would harm education programs while dooming
efforts to close the achievement gap. It said similar caps have failed in Massachusetts and other
states because they do not address rising costs beyond the control of school districts, inevitably
leading to cuts to education programs that serve children and other public services.

The coalition is led by New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness and the Educational Conference
Board and includes such groups as the New York State Parent Teachers Association; the
Working Families Party; Fiscal Policy Institute; New York State Council of Superintendents; New
York State United Teachers; Civil Service Employees Association; BALCONY; Citizens Action of
NY; TREND; Center on Budget and Policy Priorities; New York Association of School Business
Officials; School Administrators Association of NYS; Campaign for Fiscal Equity and the Alliance
for Quality Education.

"I am troubled by the fact that Governor Paterson is taking this preliminary report from the
Commission on Property Tax Relief and immediately asking the Legislature to act on one facet
of it,” said Ron Deutsch, executive director of New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness. “There are so
many potential problems with his proposed tax cap that to try and rush it through now without
careful consideration would be careless and a disservice to the taxpayers of New York State.”

“The proposed tax cap merely perpetuates an unequal system that already puts too much
of a burden on the average working person,” added ECB Chair Edward McCormick. “It’s
simplistic, arbitrary and unfair.”

Coalition members also said the proposed cap would not address rising costs beyond the
control of school districts, but would exacerbate inequities by requiring a super-majority vote to
override Albany’s arbitrary limits on school spending – something more easily accomplished by
more affluent communities.

“A tax cap, as evidenced in any state that has attempted one, clearly limits a community's
choice to invest in quality education, leaving no option but to cut programs and services,” said
Maria L. DeWald, president of the New York State PTA. “In addition, an intrinsic inequity is
inherent in a community's ability to override the cap and creates a greater gap between rich and
poor. Why, when the goal of foundation aid is to close that gap, would we revert to a regressive
measure? Who will speak for the next generation if not a citizenry dedicated to providing equal
access to a quality education? “

Billy Easton, executive director of the Alliance for Quality Education, said New York State
has just started to close the educational achievement gap. “A tax cap threatens to directly
undermine the long overdue effort to improve educational quality for every child.”

“A tax cap is a great election year sound bite, but it does nothing to address the
fundamental property tax issue, which is that the state does not pay its full share of the cost of
educating children and a tax cap does nothing to address the fundamental educational issue,
which is that too many children are still in classrooms with too few resources,” Easton said.

“After 15 years of Campaign for Fiscal Equity litigation and legislation, New York State
has finally begun to put more resources in schools to close the achievement gap and ensure the
constitutional right to a sound basic education,” added Geri D. Palast, executive director of the
Campaign for Fiscal Equity. “A tax cap undermines this seedling effort. Across the nation, tax
caps have resulted in cuts to essential services — reducing teachers and programs — leading
to reduced academic performance. We must not give with one hand and take with the other at
the expense of our kids’ futures.”

Coalition members noted that, just last month, voters approved nearly 93 percent of local
school budgets, sending a clear message that it – even when facing higher property tax bills –
investing in public education is a high priority. In fact, in the 336 school districts that put up
school budgets with tax increases higher than the proposed cap recommended by the
Commission, voters approved 88.4 percent of those budgets. Nearly 70 percent of school
budgets carrying tax increases of 6 percent or higher won support from voters.

“Parents and community members want to decide how their property tax dollars are spent
and don’t want their voice usurped by a one-size-fits-all cap imposed by Albany,” said NYSUT
Executive Vice President Alan B. Lubin. “New Yorkers support their schools and, while property
tax relief is needed, a cap is too arbitrary and too destructive to education. It’s clearly the wrong
approach.”

Bob Lowry, deputy director for advocacy, research & communications for the New York
State Council of School Superintendents, pointed out that “perhaps the greatest single
accomplishment of the last two legislative sessions has been to improve equity in school
funding. A cap on school property taxes would undermine that accomplishment. Caps tend to
hurt poor school districts most, especially when the state is unable to keep its end of the funding
bargain.”

Lowry noted that, over the last two years, “Strong state aid has helped school districts
hold down proposed tax increases. Average proposed increases this year were down by almost
half from two years ago (i.e., 3.3 percent vs. 5.9 percent in 2006-07). That's before state
rebates are taken into account. This year, rebates more than offset local tax increases in about
40 percent of districts.”

Instead of a cap, coalition members said state leaders should target tax relief to senior
citizens and middle-class homeowners who need it the most, through a circuit-breaker which
would limit property taxes as a percentage of household income. Thirty-five states already have
adopted circuit-breakers to provide help to homeowners.

Karen Scharff, executive director of Citizen Action of NY, said: “The proposed tax cap is
the wrong way to restrain property tax growth — it will negatively impact the quality of education
in struggling school districts. In contrast, a dramatically expanded circuit breaker, combined
with full implementation of the state's commitment to increased school aid, would provide real
and immediate relief for New Yorkers struggling with high property taxes without harming the
quality of education.”

Dan Cantor, executive director of the Working Families Party, added: “The way to give
working families and seniors a real property tax cut is to use a targeted circuit breaker to give
tax relief directly to those who need it most. We can pay for it, and protect our children’s
education, by rolling back a fraction of the tax giveaways to the ultra-rich. It’s the only way to
address the real problems of high property taxes and protect critical investments in New York
state.”

Tax caps have failed in other states. In California, Proposition 13 has destroyed the
quality of public education and led to disastrous cuts in programs and harmful increases in class
size. Massachusetts’ tax cap, while not directly comparable to the one proposed for New York,
still has led to dramatic cuts to schools and public services, coalition members said.

“The fundamental problem with property tax caps is that they don’t make public services
any less expensive. They can’t change the growth in the cost of health insurance for teachers
or fuel to heat buildings and run school buses,” said Iris J. Lav, director of the Center on Budget
and Policy Priorities, which recently released a study of the Massachusetts experience. “Unless
the capped property taxes are replaced by an adequate, reliable, and well-targeted stream of
state aid, a cap will lead to cuts in expenditures that are needed to provide quality education.

She added, “If New Yorkers are looking to Massachusetts as evidence that a cap is
beneficial, they are reading the evidence incorrectly. Massachusetts after it passed its cap had
advantages New York would likely not have, such as a booming economy from the
“Massachusetts Miracle,” a sharply declining school enrollment, a willingness to replace lost
property tax revenues with a very large infusion of state aid and a commitment to improving
education quality by increasing school aid by a strong 8.6 percent per year for many years and
targeting that aid to equalize expenditures among the lowest and highest income school
districts. Massachusetts is doing well despite its property tax cap, not because of it.”

Frank Mauro, executive director of the Fiscal Policy Institute, noted Massachusetts’
experience is not comparable because “many more children in New York attend schools with
high concentrations of needy pupils than is the case in Massachusetts, and Massachusetts
spends more per pupil in high-needs districts that in low-needs districts while the New York
experience is the exact opposite.”

Mauro also emphasized that, "The Massachusetts experience can not be used to predict
the impact of the proposed cap on educational quality in New York since the Massachusetts cap
did not apply directly to school districts and it can be overridden with a majority vote." He said Commissioner Chair Thomas Suozzi, on the other hand, is proposing to apply a cap directly on school districts and he is proposing a cap that could only be overridden by a supermajority of either 55 percent or 60 percent in other cases. “Both of these requirements would make it even harder for New York voters to protect the quality of education than it has been for Massachusetts voters,” Mauro said.

Added Robert McKeon, director of TREND (Tax Reform Efforts of Northern Dutchess),
“The only kind of ‘cap’ that New Yorkers are telling us they want is on the amount of taxes that they are asked to pay. That's a circuit-breaker, another Commission recommendation,
which legislators should instead immediately focus on.”

McKeon said: “Other states that have enacted caps resorted to shifting from “taxes” to
“fees” -- more smoke and mirrors. What a traditional cap is, at the core, is yet another unfunded mandate -- the state regulating the local levy without committing itself in the future. Isn't that extraordinarily convenient for state lawmakers who haven't solved these issues?”

Cuomo good on reform but capitulating to right on tax/budget issues-- why?...

"Meet the new boss-- same as the old boss."


-- Roger Daltrey (from The Who's "We Won't Get Fooled Again")


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Hi all...


In case you missed 'em, these two were on front pages of yesterday's Times and Poughkeepsie Journal:


"Cuomo Opens Campaign for New York Governor" by Danny Hakim and Nicholas Confessore
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/23/nyregion/23cuomo.html


"Cuomo Says He'll Reform Albany As Governor" [Associated Press]
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20100523/NEWS12/100523010/Cuomo-says-he-ll-reform-Albany-as-governor


So-- kudos (Cuomo deserves 'em) for his comin' out strong now for needed progressive reforms like independent redistricting and ethics monitoring, disclosure of outside income for legislators, and same-sex marriage-- and making it easier for communities (if they want) to consolidate villages, etc...


[...and of course I'm all for strong Dem at top of ticket-- and new "sheriff of Wall Street" (like Spitzer; lol)...]


But-- wake up, progressives-- we need to raise ruckus NOW-- loudly against Cuomo's conservative and counterproductive plans that will hold NY back and prevent us from rebounding from its current funk...


First-- shame on Cuomo for taking so long to weigh in on the current state budget mess-- and now that he's done so, he's still barely saying anything-- no real solutions offered for this year-- only opposition to Ravitch current plan to borrow $6 billion over next three years to help balance state budget (with new financial review board)..."he declined to say much about current budget impasse bedeviling Albany"...
[recall massive coalition for sensible revenue alternatives @ http://www.ABetterChoiceforNY.org ; also see: http://www.fiscalpolicy.org/CWF_FPI_NewYorkHasTheWaysAndMeans.pdf (great FPI/CWF report)]


What I'm really alarmed about tho, frankly, is Cuomo's almost complete neoliberal capitulation to the NYTimes/Pok. Journal/Freeman/Daily News/punditocracy's consensus and right wing on economic issues-- "no new income taxes", "freezing state employee salaries", "capping state spending", and a "property tax cap"...(with no mention whatsoever as well of a pledge to enact Clean Money Clean Elections campaign finance reform-- as at least Spitzer/Paterson promised, tho failed to deliver on)...
[re: property tax cap-- crucial facts here: http://www.fiscalpolicy.org/PropertyTaxCapPressRelease.pdf ]


Sadly, Cuomo's neoliberal's proposals confirm the suspicions many of us had that, similar to Spitzer, and counter to his taking on Wall Street as AG, Cuomo is, unfortunately, unwilling to take on the true special interests and real power structure in our state-- not organizations who represent working people (unions who are outspent ten-to-one in Albany re: lobbying/donations)-- but Wall Street, corporations...


[looks like Andrew will be enacting massive budget cuts like Mario did in late 80's (after which NYS still lost 500,000 jobs-- in wake of Mario's slashing income taxes for corporations and rich then)-- just as Pataki did same thing from 1995-2006-- just as Spitzer and Paterson have done...new boss = old boss]


Too bad-- looks like Cuomo will very much need us to remind him that unless middle class is brought back to life in Hudson Valley and across NYS, there's no way our state's economy can come back...


[not that GOP would be any better on any of this, of course-- but we shouldn't settle for anything but best]


Recall facts from http://www.fiscalpolicy.org/RevisedFPIBudgetBook_20100203.pdf (Fiscal Policy Inst.):


[sadly, facts like these below ignored daily by local newspapers bent on promoting neoliberal agenda]


Fact: State spending now in New York as % of GDP is now about 6.9%; in 1994 it was higher-- 7.4%.


Fact: NYS now spends about $12 billion on employee wages/salaries-- less than 20 years ago in 1990.


Fact: Consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of GDP (Wall Street Journal), but high unemployment and high consumer debt burdens will temper consumer spending and restrain the pace of recovery.


Fact: According to the NYC Independent Budget Office, 73% of income growth in New York between 2002 and 2007 went to a small number of families at the top; the total income of the top 5 percent grew more than four times as fast as total income of the other 95 percent.


Fact: Millionaires now pay only 8.4% of their income in state/local taxes we in middle class pay 11%.


Fact: VT, CT, PA, NJ, MA all have higher monthly unemployment payments than NY; this hurts NY'ers.


Fact: To restore the state minimum wage to its July 1970 peak purchasing power, New York would have to increase its minimum wage to $9.46 by January 2013.


Fact: By 3-to-1 ratio NY'ers for stock transfer tax on Wall St.-- to stop local tax hikes, budget cuts.
[join 39 other local folks signed to http://www.petitiononline.com/stocktax ; http://www.FiscalPolicy.org ]


Fact: Wall Street made $61 billion in profits last year, besides $20 billion in cash bonuses (Crain's).
[see: http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20100328/FREE/303289966 ]


Fact: The richest 1% of Americans own more than 95% of us (according to Wall Street Journal).
[see http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1206-01.htm ; http://www.EuropesPromise.org ]


Fact: 98% of small business owners in the U.S. make less than $250,000/year (Wall Street Journal).
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2008/oct/16/barack-obama/most-small-businesses-wont-be-subject-to-obamas-ta/


Fact: Millionaires used to pay 15.5% NY income tax rate in early 70's; they now pay less than 9%.
[see: http://www.fiscalpolicy.org/taxhistory2.htm ; http://www.ABetterChoiceforNY.org ]


I'll give this to Cuomo, tho-- he's right about one thing-- that the possibility for real reform still is with US:


[quote here below from Cuomo is from yesterday's Poughkeepsie Journal and today's Times]


"You go to the people first and you get the people on your side. You get the people supporting a specific set of reforms," Cuomo said. "We can say to the Democrats and the Republicans in January, 'The people of the state have spoken.' Politicians tend to follow what the people in their districts want done."
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20100523/NEWS12/100523010/Cuomo-says-he-ll-reform-Albany-as-governor


So-- what can you do about all this?...


First-- contact Cuomo's office at http://www.andrewcuomo.com/contact ; call 'em too: (212) 209-3314!...


Second-- call state legislators now in office on all this-- at (877) 255-9417-- and fwd this to all u know...


[pass it on]


Joel
444-0599/876-2488
joeltyner@earthlink.net

p.s. Again-- just speaking personally as county legislator, REAL action needed to bring in extra added revenue to stop county property/sales tax hikes, budget cuts: http://www.PetitionOnline.com/SaveDuCo ;
see http://www.petitiononline.com/stocktax for full list of county budget cuts that WENT THRU in Dec.!...


p.p.s. Cuomo's plans won't help local schools struggling-- as he refuses to lift a finger to push for a truly fair and progressive system of taxation (e.g. as Cahill has; see http://www.PetitionOnline.com/FAIRTAX ) ...and let's not forget about those school budgets that went down Tues. in Arlington, City of Poughkeepsie, and Pawling-- despite big cuts that had been made in all three of those districts-- and
all of the budget cuts made by school boards locally already-- here in the Rhinebeck Central School District meaning cuts already made, eliminating $$$ for all field trips, intramural sports, after-school activity bus, Arts-in-Education, athletic supplies, and extracurricular clubs-- besides teachers...


p.p.p.s. And-- yep-- why dos Germany have all that $$$ to lend the rest of Europe?...because they didn't kill their middle class!...(German workers make up half the members of their corporations' boards of directors-- with full funding for schools, pensions, health care, child care, universities, good wages...see:
http://www.EuropesPromise.org ; http://www.democracynow.org/2010/2/12/europes_promise !...


[..and-- Greens, progressive Dems-- sign on to http://www.PetitionOnline.com/IRVnow for democracy...]


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From http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=920718 ...


Look to Wall Street for help
By FRANK MAURO AND RON DEUTSCH


First published in print in the Albany Times-Union: Monday, April 12, 2010

With New York, like other states, still reeling from a devastating national recession, Gov. David Paterson and the Legislature are proposing budget plans that rely overwhelmingly on cuts to essential public services. This, they imply, would hurt the economy less than a more balanced approach that includes some economically sensible revenue choices. Nothing could be further from economic reality.


The painful irony of the current crisis is that people's needs are rising while the resources available to the states to meet those needs are shrinking. Reacting to this situation by offering even less help to struggling families not only hurts people trying to get back on their feet, but it's also bad for the state's economy.

Several years ago, during a previous national recession, Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz and Peter Orszag, now director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, wrote a paper explaining why. They took into account the fact that most tax dollars that states collect go for salaries and purchases that are spent quickly and close to home -- the essence of economic stimulus.

Stiglitz and Orszag found that reducing this type of spending, especially when the economy already suffers from a faltering private sector, is actually more damaging in the short run than tax increases focused on the portions of higher income households' incomes that are the least likely to be spent in the local economy.

The budget cuts being proposed by the governor and Legislature would go in the other direction. These cuts would pull the rug from under many New York families. And just in the areas of education and health care alone, they would add 30,000 more New Yorkers to the unemployment rolls and threaten this fragile recovery.

Under a balanced approach to the state budget, revenues should be raised in ways that would hurt the economy the least; and should be used to reduce the extent of the spending cuts and to provide meaningful property tax relief.

While most families and businesses are struggling economically, Wall Street is enjoying record profits -- an estimated $61 billion last year. That's triple the previous record set in 2006 and it adds up to very generous salaries and bonuses, all on the heels of the recent trillion dollar, taxpayer-funded bailout. Wall Street bounced back quickly, but Main Street remains mired in the aftermath of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression -- a crisis, by the way, caused in large part by finance sector excesses.

Wall Street could not have recovered so quickly without Main Street's helping hand.

Now it's time for Wall Street to return the favor and help Main Street.

There are several ways in which Wall Street could help prevent the most disastrous cuts to essential state and local public services that are now being considered by the Legislature.

For example, temporarily lowering from 100 percent to 80 percent the portion of the state's Stock Transfer Tax that is rebated would produce about $3.2 billion a year. In effect, this change would impose a tax of only one cent per share on shares selling for more than $20 each, and as little as a quarter of a cent per share for shares selling for less than $5 per share.

Another approach would involve a temporary moratorium on the ability of businesses to offset current profits with prior years' losses. This would ensure that profitable firms contribute on an "ability to pay" basis during the current downturn.
In a crisis like this, it's easy to forget about the future. Just getting through each day is tough enough. But New York can't afford to be so short-sighted. Education, affordable health care and housing, vital state services, a strong safety net and a sound transportation system are all essential for a prosperous economy. Cutting too deeply in those areas today will hurt the state. But a balanced approach that includes economically sensible revenue increases would be a sound investment that New York can't afford not to make.


Frank Mauro is executive director of the Fiscal Policy Institute. Ron Deutsch is executive director of New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness.

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From http://www.fiscalpolicy.org/CWF_FPI_NewYorkHasTheWaysAndMeans.pdf ...

"April 2010: New York Has the Ways and Means: How and Why Wall Street Should Give Back"

This report was researched and written by Sunshine Ludder, a Senior Policy Organizer at the Center for
Working Families and James Parrott, FPI's Chief Economist and Deputy Director. Special thanks to Emmaia Gelman, Policy Director at CWF; David Palmer, Executive Director of CWF; Frank Mauro, Executive Director of FPI; David Dyssegaard Kallick, Senior Fellow at FPI; and Jo Brill,
Director of Communications at FPI.


The Solution: A four-part action plan

To address the current recession's challenges while moving New York toward a sensible long-term
balance between spending and revenues, a four-part action plan of temporary and permanent measures is needed.

I-Enact temporary tax measures that recapture some of Wall Street's profit windfall to spur Main
Street's recovery.

Given Wall Street's extraordinary 2009 profits underwritten in full by a taxpayer bailout, New York's
financial industry is well-positioned to help bring fiscal stability to the state, and tax relief and basic
fairness to working New Yorkers. Some mix of the following four options should be considered, with a
goal of raising $6 billion per year for two years.

… Temporary bonus recapture tax. A modified version of the U.K. bonus tax, the New York
plan will levy a payroll tax on bonuses worth at least $50,000 and paid to employees
receiving total annual compensation of $250,000 or more. The tax should start at 25 percent
of eligible bonuses, and reach 50 percent when total compensation passes $500,000. The tax
is structured as a temporary tax on all bonus compensation, including deferred bonuses
whether paid as cash, stock, or stock options.

… Temporary reduction of Stock Transfer Tax rebates. New York has had a stock transfer
tax on the books since 1905, but the state has returned it through an automatic 100 percent
rebate since 1981. Last year, the value of stock transfer rebates was $14.5 billion. Retaining
just 20 percent of the rebate would have generated revenue of $2.9 billion. A temporary
reduction of the rebate will not trigger an exodus of financial firms-and it will provide a
major source of revenue.

… Suspension of the carry-forward provision for 2007 and 2008 net operating losses for
financial firms. This measure will suspend the ability of large firms to reduce their New
York corporate income tax liability on profits in 2009 or future years based on losses in 2007
or 2008. Those losses have been more than made up by 2009's record profits, thanks to the
taxpayer bailouts and low Federal Reserve interest rates.

… Windfall profits tax. Wall Street's largest banks posted record profits in 2009-entirely as a
result of government economic policies and taxpayer resources. At the same time, Main
Street New York businesses are starved for capital, and still mired in the "Great Recession."
A one-time windfall tax should be levied on financial firms whose profits exceed a certain
threshold for 2009 and 2010.

II-Close loopholes and reform New York's tax system to make it fairer and more effective.

State tax loopholes and credits to big businesses, and financial firms in particular, siphon away hundreds of millions of dollars yearly, with very little return for taxpayers. New York should right the balance by reclaiming a fair share of taxes from business and reducing the tax burden on households. Under New York's state and local tax system, low- and middle-income families contribute greater shares of family income to support government services than wealthier taxpayers. Reforms to property taxes, personal income taxes and corporate taxes can make the system fairer and more productive.

… The state's taxation of financial firms should be updated to respond to several changes in the
industry's structure and practices, and enact reforms that will generate ongoing annual revenues
of more than $300 million. The state should also seriously consider placing a temporary cap on
corporate tax credits, which have grown in recent years to a cost of $4.5 billion.

… New York State should reform its personal income tax structure to increase the progressivity of
that tax on a permanent basis while providing the revenue necessary to reduce the pressure that is
currently placed on local property and sales tax bases, and to meet New York's pressing budget
needs on a recurring and sustainable basis.

III-Support federal action to counter the recession and modernize state corporate income taxation.

New York government, labor, business and civic leaders should work with their counterparts in other
states and at the national level to secure a much-needed extension of state fiscal relief; fund a robust job creation package; and repeal the federal law that prohibits states from drawing income tax from
corporations whose profits are based on New York sales but who do not have property or employees in
New York.

April 2010: New York Has the Ways and Means: How and Why Wall Street Should Give Back 5
IV-Give Main Street the help it needs.

The short-term revenues raised by the above recommendations should be used to help close the state's recession-driven budget gaps and to begin the phase-in of a meaningful and well-targeted property tax "circuit breaker."

The revenues from the permanent tax reforms and cost savings measures should be used to restore the
state's budget to structural balance while meeting the state's important service commitments and funding a property tax circuit breaker on an ongoing basis.

New York State's budget gaps should be closed in ways that foster fairness, sustained recovery and
broadly shared prosperity. In helping Main Street, it is essential that New York State keep the following
objectives at the top of its priority list in both the short run and the long run:

… Restoring state aid to localities to reduce local tax burdens.
… Funding essential services and programs in the state budget.
… Investing in the state's physical infrastructure, including mass transportation, to create jobs and
put New York workers back to work while maintaining the foundation for a prosperous New
York.

Three important facts about the bonus recapture tax:

#1: New York's financial firms won't move out of state.

The one-time bonus recapture tax will be collected as a payroll tax from the firms and banks paying out
the big bonuses. Large New York City firms and banks won't want to leave Manhattan or the
infrastructure they rely on here-and pay all the costs of moving their firms-just to avoid a one or two
year tax. As a payroll tax, the tax is collected from the firm regardless of where an employee lives.

#2: The UK taxes big bonuses, and London's financial industry is thriving.

The UK passed a one-time bonus payroll tax last December, aimed at London's financial center. Financial firms made a lot of noise, but none of them has left London. The Conservative Party candidate for prime minister recently proposed a permanent bank tax to fund a permanent tax break for married couples. The Financial Times quoted a Conservative official, "Nobody has claimed that [the already enacted bonus tax] has undermined the City's competitiveness."

Early reports suggest that bonuses have not been reduced in proportion to the UK bonus tax. The UK tax was initially expected to raise £550m, but estimates are now over £3 billion. The revenue outcome looks very strong, but as for the British government's stated goal of reducing the practice of high-flying bonus payments, it does not seem to have worked.

The UK's tax on bonus compensation is much steeper than what's proposed for New York: The UK tax
reaches all bonuses over £25,000 ($40,000) with a flat 50 percent. Early reports are that most UK firms
continued to pay bonuses heavily in cash even after the imposition of the tax-which should not be too
surprising, since the tax also reaches bonuses given as stock and other forms of deferred awards.

#3: A Bonus Recapture Tax will amount to less than 10 percent of Wall Street's 2009
profits.

A one-time tax on big bonuses will not jeopardize Wall Street firms, but it will provide critical revenue for what's really in jeopardy-New York's working families. The added $4.7-6.9 billion revenue from taxing super-bonuses will mean urgently needed property tax relief for New York's working families and urgently needed revenues to help close New York's deficit and get the state back on track to fiscal
stability.

Rhinebeck/Clinton/Dutchess/NYS-- vote yes Tues. for your school budget!...

[note-- friend CISPE (Rhinebeck's Committee in Support of Public Education) on Facebook if you haven't already-- and get all your FB friends to too!...great post Apr. 22nd to FB/CISPE page from CISPE's Debi Duke-- "the key point here is: why are hedge fund managers 'worth' so much more than teachers?...thought provoking"...(in reference to Les Leopold's piece-- "Why Are 25 Hedge Fund Managers Worth 658,000 Teachers?"-- click on this link his early April post to Huffington Post on this--
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/les-leopold/why-are-25-hedge-fund-man_b_531420.html ; this also from LL: "Help: What's the Cure for Financial Insanity?" http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/05/14-12 ;
don't forget-- by 3-to-1 ratio, people in NYS DO strongly support at least partial return of tiny stock transfer tax on Wall Street to bring in extra added needed revenue for our schools and to avoid even more property tax hikes-- join 39 local folks signed on @ http://www.petitiononline.com/stocktax ;
call state legislators tomorrow on this: (877) 255-9417; see http://www.ABetterChoiceforNY.org !...Joel]

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From: Community In Support of Public Education

Subject: Get outside . . . and don't forget the "vote yes for kids" campaign

Date: May 16, 2010 12:43 PM

School Budget Vote

Tuesday, May 18, 2-9 p.m., middle school cafeteria

It's a beautiful day. Enjoy it! Please remember that it's not too late to help pass the school budget.

If you'll be out of town during voting hours, you can still vote an absentee ballot, Monday, 9-4, at the district office in the high school. Bring proof of residency. For details, call Meg Todisco, the district clerk, at 871-5520, ext. 5522.

Post a "vote yes" sign in your yard or other visible place to help remind others. Pick up signs from the porch at 27 Chestnut, home of Polly Kaplan.

Mini-posters and informational leaflets can still be distributed. E-mail CISPE if you need a list of places to post or if you want a pdf to print from. You can also pick these up from Polly's porch (see above) or in the foyer at 25 Platt, home of Debi Duke & Steve Rosenberg.

If you haven't made up your mind & have questions about the budget, don't wait any longer. E-mail your questions today or post them on CISPE's Facebook page.

Encourage friends, relatives, or neighbors who don't have kids in school to "vote yes for kids." Households with school children will receive a call reminding them to vote "yes," but only you can reach others in the community.

Every vote counts in these polls. Please help avoid a second ballot with additional cuts. Thanks!

Community In Support of Public Education
cispe@frontiernet.net & on Facebook

Steering committee -- Lesa Cline-Ransome, Debi Duke, Kris Hall, Polly Kaplan, Sheila Moloney, and Lottchen Shivers
To be removed from this list, e-mail cispe@frontiernet.net

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From CISPE's Facebook page (friend 'em-- and get all your other FB friends to friend 'em too!)...

Community in Support of Public Education

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Community-in-Support-of-Public-Education-CISPE/110343808996171?ref=ts&v=wall

Community in Support of Public Education (CISPE) Passing the 2010-11 budget will preserve core programs and reasonable class sizes. You may not think cuts are great news for kids, but voting "no" will be even worse. Scroll down for a review of budget details or go to http://rhinebeckcsd.org/ and click on "school budget."
It really does take a village - and a few tow...ns - to pass a budget. Here are seven ways you can help. More coming soon.
Sign up to make get-out-the-vote calls, May 16-18. We provide a list and talking points. E-mail Elizabeth Spinzia if you can help.Put up a yard sign. Pick up signs from the porch at 27 Chestnut, home of Polly Kaplan, or e-mail to have a sign delivered.Talk up voting "YES" and publicize the budget. Twitter, blog, use your Facebook page and e-mail lists; do whatever you can think of.Get the facts and help stamp out rumors. The District has a special e-mail address for budget questions, budgetinfo@rhinebeckcsd.org, and its web site has up to date numbers; go to http://rhinebeckcsd.org/ and click "school budget." You may also e-mail questions to CISPE or post them on our Facebook page. Please note: CISPE has nothing to do with the anti-teacher/anti-union web site and leaflet being circulated.Be sure you're registered to vote in Dutchess County. If you're not you have until Tues., May 13, to do so with the county or at the district office, 9-4 on school days. Bring proof of residency.Get an absentee ballot now if you'll be out of town May 18. Apply for an absentee ballot in person at the district office from 9-4 on school days or call 871-5520, ext. 5522. Completed applications must be received by May 11 if the ballot is to be mailed or by May 17 if the voter picks the ballot up personally at the clerk's office. Absentee ballots must be returned to the office by 5 p.m., May 18. [For additional details on eligibility and registration, click on "In the News," at http://rhinebeckcsd.org/.Thank members of the Rhinebeck Administrators Association, Superintendent Joe Phelan, and Assistant Superintendent Tom Burnell for offering to donate back 2% of next year's salaries to save programs. Budget overviewRhinebeck's Board of Education (BOE) has held next year's budget increase to 2.1% - the smallest in 18 years. The estimated tax levy increase is 3.99%. To keep it this low requires painful cuts including:Fewer adults working with and for kids including a library clerk, two elementary teachers, a teacher aide, and a typistEnrichment eliminated including all field trips, all middle and high school intramural sports, and the after school activity busDeep reductions in Arts-in-Education, athletic supplies and field irrigation, equipment and supplies such as library books and calculators, extracurricular clubs and activities, faculty and staff development, and moreStaff time cuts - adults working with and for kids will have their hours cut. The total equals more than two full-time positions.If the budget doesn't pass, it gets worse. The BOE may hold a second vote or go directly to a "contingency" budget. In either case, there would be additional cuts. With a contingency budget, another $572,846 would be cut including:More adults working with and for kids will lose their jobs including two more elementary school teachers, the part-time athletic trainer, a custodian, and another typistMore staff time cuts. Teachers of reading, foreign language, English, computer, home economics, and business; the licensed practical nurse at Chancellor, and the middle-high school assistant principal will have their hours cut. The total equals more than two full-time positions.For more budget details go to http://rhinebeckcsd.org/ and click on "school budget."
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Rhinebeck Central School District
rhinebeckcsd.org
BOARD ACCEPTS OFFER FROM ADMINISTRATORS TO GIVE BACK PART OF PAY Reporting on the Board of Education meeting held on Tuesday, April 27, 2010, the Daily Freeman publi...
May 3 at 7:53am · Share
Community in Support of Public Education (CISPE) Dear Rhinebeck School Community, Please join us and help support the BMS Band Program as students perform at our Book Fair Fundraiser on Friday, May 14 from 6-9 p.m. at Barnes & Noble in Kingston. A portion of all proceeds will go directly to our band program, provided you use a voucher (available at the store). For th...ose of you unable to make it to the Book Fair on May 14, the fundraising time period will last through Tuesday, May 18. Any items purchased with a voucher during this time will also help to benefit the BMS band program. In addition, friends, relatives, and community members are able to support the BMS band program through purchases made at all other Barnes & Noble stores or at www.barnesandnoble.com using our Bookfair ID#10201036. Thanks so much for your support! If you have any questions, feel free to contact me. In music, Marla UlrichBMS Band Director 871-5500 x5762mulrich@rhinebeckcsd.org
Barnes&Noble - Books, Textbooks, eBooks, Toys, Games & More
www.barnesandnoble.com
New! Lower Prices on Millions of Books, DVDs, Music, Toys & Games and More. Shop for eBooks, NOOK, and textbooks. FREE Shipping on $25 orders!
May 11 at 8:16am · Share

Debi Duke Remember the middle/high school show, YOUNG AT ART, upstairs in Montgomery Row through May 27. There's also a gorgeous mosaic piece downstairs at Blue Cashew. Congrats to students and teachers and thanks to the Montgomery Row folks.
May 4 at 7:54pm · Comment · LikeUnlike · Flag

Debi Duke Congratulations to Bulkeley 7th graders Paige Carlquist, Amy Catalano, Megan Heller, Dilynn Livesey, and Suki McCarty for proposing ways to make our schools "greener," including biodegradable lunch trays and more.
Rhinebeck students offer green initiatives - The Daily Freeman News: Serving the Hudson Valley since
www.dailyfreeman.com
Kingston New York daily newspaper covering local, regional, and national news including local sports, video and multimedia coverage, and classified advertising.
May 2 at 7:40pm · Share · Flag
Community in Support of Public Education (CISPE) Please come and pick up a "Vote Yes for the school budget" yard sign or two at 27 Chestnut St in the Village. No need to call ahead. They are out on my front step. Please consider putting up one in your front yard or anywhere else you can think of. Ask your friends and neighbors too! We need to get this budget passed.
April 30 at 10:43am

Debi Duke BRAVO! At tonight's Board of Ed meeting, all six members of the Rhinebeck Administrators' Association, along with Mr. Phelan and Mr. Burnell, offered to donate 2% of their base pay back to the district to help restore programs. The Board accepted with thanks.
April 27 at 10:30pm · View Feedback (2)Hide Feedback (2) · Flag

Debi Duke The key point here is: Why are hedge fund managers "worth" so much more than teachers? Thought provoking.

Schools: Too Big To Fail - Bridging Differences - Education Week
blogs.edweek.org
I wish you were going to be with us this Saturday as we celebrate the work we have accomplished over the past half-century and figure out how to counter the latest onslaught. Our friend teacherken quotes Les Leopold's question in his recent blog.
April 22 at 8:20pm · Share · Flag

Community in Support of Public Education (CISPE) Budget Update from Community In Support of Public Education (CISPE), Wednesday, April 14
At Tuesday evening's public hearing a few minor changes from the earlier version of the budget were presented. See the latest version (changes in bold type) on the RCSD website at, http://www.rhinebeckcsd.org/files/976245/Tier%201...%20%202%20Recommended%20Reductions%204-13-10.pdf. This budget is expected to be adopted at a BOE meeting, Tues., April 20, 7:30 p.m.
Barring something unexpected, all cuts in tiers 1 and 2 - more than $1 million - will be made. These cuts will keep the tax levy at 3-4%. Sorry, we can't yet tell you what that means in real $$ increase. Nothing new is being added to the budget. The cuts will cover increases in basic expenses, such as insurance, plus previously negotiated wage and salary increases, which the Board must honor.
All three unions - administrators, teachers, and support staff -- were asked for concessions. The administrators and support staff continue to talk with the BOE. The teachers offered to accept a retirement buy-out. The Board rejected the idea of in effect paying people extra to retire early.
CISPE believes that in these extraordinary times, all the unions need to give a little; the pain shouldn't fall only on the kids.
The public hearing was recorded for Panda, so you may be able to see it there soon. About 40 - 50 people participated. The largest number spoke about the need for a 5th section for this coming year's 4th grade which currently has 93 students including many described as "high spirited."
Others expressed concern about the loss of library and HS attendance staff, the arts in education program, and the part-time LPN position. Questions were posed about sports budget, curriculum budget, and other items. CISPE's suggestions, described in an earlier update, were presented.
The school nurse, members of the Board, administrators, and audience members responded to many of the suggestions made by CISPE and others. It seemed that virtually everyone's arguments had merit and that there truly is no "right" answer when all the options are bad.
We are fortunate to be part of a community whose members are thoughtful, respectful of each other, and keep the kids' needs front and center.
This is only the beginning of difficult times. The district's business administrator and others warned that we will likely be making substantial cuts for the next two or three years.
In closing, we want to echo Pat Sexton's note to CLS parents: It's important that we, as parents and taxpayers, understand what is being cut and what those cuts take from our children's educational experience. Working together as a community, we hope to find ways to continue to enrich our children's lives and their ability to succeed in the world.
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What you can do.
Tell us if you have "vote yes" on the budget signs from previous years, and how many.Distribute and post flyers beginning around May 1.Make "vote yes" calls, May 16-18.Request an absentee ballot from the district office if you will be out of town May 18th. Vote "yes," Tues., May 18, 2-9 p.m., middle school cafeteria.Think creatively about the future.----------------------------------------------------------
CISPE Steering Committee - Lesa Cline-Ransome (Lclineransome@aol.com) Debi Duke (DebiD2@frontiernet.net) Kris Hall (Hall@bard.edu) Polly Kaplan (polkap12@hotmail.com), Sheila Moloney (smoloney@frontiernet.net), and Lottchen Shivers (Lottchen@earthlink.net)
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www.rhinebeckcsd.org
www.rhinebeckcsd.org
April 15 at 8:49am · Share

Debi Duke As far as we know, the BOE did not adopt any of the changes suggested. I came away thinking about how many angles have to be considered, how complex it all is, and how it's virtually impossible to know what's "right" when all the options are "wrong." Let's just pass this thing so we don't get even more cuts!
April 14 at 8:45am · View Feedback (1)Hide Feedback (1) · Flag

Community in Support of Public Education (CISPE) Budget Update from Community In Support of Public Education (CISPE)
Public hearing on Rhinebeck 2010-11 school budget, Tues., April 13, 7 p.m., BMS cafeteria. The LAST opportunity for the public to be heard from about input on the budget before it is formally adopted.
This is an extraordinary year. More than a million d...ollars are being cut from programs serving kids. It's an understatement to say that making such decisions is hard. (See the list of proposed cuts at http://www.rhinebeckcsd.org/schoolboard.cfm?subpage=976245. Click "Budget" and then "Options for reductions.")
CISPE appreciates the difficulty of crafting a school budget in tough times. We know it is impossible to agree 100% on priorities, and we thank the Board of Education and the administration for their diligence.
Tomorrow evening, we expect to ask the BOE to consider a few changes in priorities. There are currently 3 "tiers" of cuts. Unless something changes, the Board expects to make all the cuts in tiers 1 and 2. Cuts from tier 3 will only be needed if the budget does not pass.
CISPE will recommend that some items from tier 3 go to tiers 1 or 2 so as to preserve the following:
An additional section for next year's 4th grade, a relatively large class with many special needs students (tier 2, line 9)The Arts-in Education Program - full funding (tier 1, line 2)More funds for secondary extracurricular programs, which have partial cuts, and/or field trips, which are set for elimination at all levels (tier 1, lines 16-19) To cover these items, we would move the following items from tier 3 up to 1 or 2:
High school marketing and video production electives (tier 3, lines 8 and 9). These are good programs, but serve relatively few students.Components of the community service program (tier 3, lines 6 & 7). Another good program, but with service well established in Rhinebeck this seems like a preferable cut.Part-time LPN position (tier 3, line 12). Our understanding is this is a very part-time position filling in for lunch breaks, etc., and with effective planning its temporary loss would not compromise student health. We also understand that some school districts are using aides (who receive training) to cover various health office needs.CISPE is now on Facebook. Become a fan. Comment on the budget. Help us answer questions and stop rumors. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Community-in-Support-of-Public-Education-CISPE/110343808996171?ref=ts&v=wall
What you can do before the school budget vote on May 18. E-mail CISPE@frontiernet.net if you can do any of the following:
Attend Tuesday's budget hearing, from 7:00 - 7:30 p.m., middle school cafeteria. The budget will be discussed during this first 30 minutes of the Board of Education meeting.Tell us if you have "vote yes" on the budget signs from previous years, and how many. Attend the regular BOE meeting, Tues., April 20, 7:30 p.m., middle/high school library. Unless the budget is adopted after the April 13 hearing, it will likely be finalized at this meeting.Distribute and post flyers beginning around May 1.Make "vote yes" calls, May 16-18.Request an absentee ballot if you will be out of town May 18th. Vote "yes," Tues., May 18, 2-9 p.m., middle school cafeteria.
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School Board
www.rhinebeckcsd.org
Click on the school budget development updates below for updated information on the 2010-11 school budget development process.
April 13 at 1:08pm · View Feedback (1)Hide Feedback (1) · Share
Community in Support of Public Education (CISPE) CISPE was started in the spring of '01 after a proposal to modernize our school buildings was soundly defeated. We support the improvement of the Rhinebeck Central School District; build community awareness of the needs of the district's students, teachers, and administrators; and work to inform and involve the community in the passage of school budgets, referenda, and other publicly funded educational improvements.
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April 13 at 1:07pm