Blogs

Today Bradley Manning’s court martial opened at Fort Mead, MD. He has been charged with “aiding the enemy” and is facing life in a military prison. Manning’s real crime - exposing the war crimes committed by our government, in our name. 

Daniel Ellsberg, whose couragous release to the press of the “Pentagon Papers” helped speed the close of the Viet Nam War, had this to say about Bradley:

The Afghanistan war grinds on, the Pentagon budget keeps growing, corporations and the 1%'ers are paying lower taxes than their secretaries, Social Security and other benefits are under attack, and next to nothing is being done to create jobs.  

Instead of addressing these problems, the House of Representatives showed that it is still gripped by deficit fever when it passed the draconian Ryan budget, and gave only 78 votes to the alternative presented by the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

A coalition of community, labor, and peace groups are organizing to put a public policy question on the November ballot across Massachusetts.  We need to collect 200 signatures of registered voters in each State Rep district by July 3.  Join us May 6 to go over the issues and learn how to collect signatures!

The wording of the Budget for All public policy question will be:

Shall the state Representative (or Senator) from this district be instructed to vote in favor of a resolution calling upon the Congress and the President to:

1. Prevent cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Veterans benefits, or to housing, food and unemployment assistance;

2. Create and protect jobs by investing in manufacturing, schools, housing, renewable energy, transportation and other public services;

3. Provide new revenues for these purposes and to reduce the long-term federal deficit by closing corporate tax loopholes, ending offshore tax havens, and raising taxes on incomes over $250,000; and

4. Redirect military spending to these domestic needs by reducing the military budget, ending the war in Afghanistan and bringing U.S. troops home safely now.