Buffalo NNAF Bowl-A-Thon
Donate Here: New York Abortion Access Fund
Saturday, April 6th, 2019
2:00 to 4:00 pm
Classic Lanes
1840 Military Rd
Buffalo, NY 14217
We’re lacing up our bowling shoes and getting to work! Help us to #FundAbortionBuildPower. Your participation could be the difference between someone getting the abortion they need, and being forced to go without.
Send a message that you believe we all should be able to access abortion no matter how much money we make or where we live. Join us on April 6th to bowl for abortion access!
Avoiding Green New Capitalism
MoCo DSA Calls For a Moral Minimum Wage for All Maryland Workers
Montgomery County DSA
MoCo DSA Calls For a Moral Minimum Wage for All Maryland Workers
March 19, 2019
(SILVER SPRING, MD) — The Steering Committee of the Montgomery County Democratic Socialists of America released the following statement today: “While we are pleased to see that the statewide minimum wage for most Maryland workers will likely increase soon, we are dismayed with the exemptions and delays contained in the bills passed by both houses of the Maryland General Assembly.
The Economic Policy Institute’s Family Budget Calculator determines that a single adult in Montgomery County needs to be paid at least $25.67/hour to afford housing, food, health care, transportation, and other basic needs. A family of two adults and two children needs to earn a combined wage of at least $50.22/hour. Yet, our Governor and General Assembly seem content to allow numerous Marylanders to live in poverty while their employers profit off of their underpaid labor.
The version of the bill passed by the House of Delegates won’t fully implement a $15/hour minimum wage until 2025, and the Senate version won’t fully implement $15/hour for smaller businesses, which make up the majority of Maryland companies, until 2028. Both versions will exempt increasing the minimum wage of tipped workers and agricultural workers — allowing restaurants, for instance, to pay tipped workers as little as $3.63/hour. Therefore, many Maryland workers wouldn’t be paid $15/hour for nine more years, and many others wouldn’t see their wages increase at all.
Perhaps most egregiously, the General Assembly stripped provisions from the original bill that tied the minimum wage to inflation, so that it would automatically increase as the costs of food, housing, and other necessities increase. By not indexing the minimum wage to inflation, the General Assembly has ensured that working-class Marylanders will be forced to fight this same battle again and again as the value of $15 decreases with inflation.
Governor Larry Hogan says he will only support raising the minimum wage to $12.10/hour, and only if our state’s neighbors also increase their minimum wages. When the costs of food and rent and consumer goods increase but workers’ wages do not, the capitalist class is earning more money but is not passing any of its increased profits on to workers. So when we delay increasing the minimum wage for years, this means we are transferring a staggering amount of wealth from workers to the capitalist class.
“We call upon the Maryland General Assembly and the Governor to sign into law a moral minimum wage — one that will increase as inflation increases, and one that pays all workers in Maryland the wages they need to provide housing, food, transportation, child care, and their families’ other basic needs.”
The post MoCo DSA Calls For a Moral Minimum Wage for All Maryland Workers appeared first on Metro DC Democratic Socialists of America.
Gimme a Brake: Brake Light Clinic
Saturday, May 4, 2019
10 am – 3 pm
SEIU/1199 Main St. Office
2421 Main St, Buffalo, New York 14214
Come on out and have volunteers from Buffalo DSA change your brake light for FREE! Free coffee, doughnuts and legal advice while you wait.
This is our 4th Brake Light Clinic and each light replaced reduces the likelihood of interaction with the police.
Lutheran climate organizer Shay O'Reilly on demonic forces, white supremacy and climate change
The Battle at Hudson Yards
Charlotte Metro DSA statement: Bernie Sanders Endorsement
At our March 3rd meeting the members of Charlotte Metro DSA engaged in the debate facing all of our fellow 60,000 comrades: whether to affirm the demands of the National Political Committee (NPC) and provide financial and labor support for Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign, and more broadly, what Bernie Sanders and his bid for president means to the burgeoning and resurgent Socialist movement in the United States. Naturally, as good Socialists, we held a structured and comradery debate about what our role nationally is in relation to electoral politics and what our capabilities as a chapter are to affect change locally through elections and campaigning. Our conversation about local needs and capabilities transitioned to why the national debate was happening so early in the 2020 election cycle, and was seemingly predetermined by the NPC, when an opportunity to decide this more democratically and transparently is only months away.
Regarding the endorsement for Bernie Sanders for President set forth by DSA NPC, Charlotte Metro DSA decided to delay our decision whether to endorse in order to better focus on issues that affect our local communities and allow us to build a broader working class movement in the Charlotte Metro area. We also call on the NPC not to endorse at this time, especially under the current conditions of the endorsement presented. This endorsement is too important and impactful to be decided by so few individuals and without the transparency necessary for a democratic organization. Additionally, we are concerned that in its current form the endorsement will pull too much money away from other more necessary DSA-led endeavors to continue to build our movement, particularly by chapters outside of major metropolitan areas. Due to the lack of horizontal participation and likely cost to Charlotte Metro DSA, we cannot at this time and in good conscience endorse Bernie Sanders for President, and we ask for the NPC to call off its vote for an endorsement and to instead let it be determined at the General Convention this August in Atlanta.
In Solidarity, CLTMDSA
MoCo DSA Steering Committee Votes to Support Healthy Maryland Act
Montgomery County DSA
MoCo DSA Steering Committee Votes to Support Healthy Maryland Act
March 5, 2019
(SILVER SPRING, MD) —
The Montgomery County Democratic Socialists of America Steering Committee voted Monday to join the growing list of organizations supporting the Healthy Maryland Act of 2019.
As noted by National Nurses United, this legislation will establish the Healthy Maryland program to provide true universal health care on a single-payer basis. “All residents shall be automatically enrolled in the program and receive benefits on a non-discriminatory basis and without regard to preexisting conditions. All medical benefits currently provided under public programs, and benefits comparable or better than those available under employer-sponsored plans, shall be provided including dental and vision. Benefits provided through Healthy Maryland shall not be subject to any co-insurance, deductible or co-payments.” Patients enrolled in the program will be able to receive care from any qualified medical care provider they choose.
Organizations supporting the Healthy Maryland Act include National Nurses United, Our Revolution Maryland, Clinicians for Progressive Care, Progressive Maryland, Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition, 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, UFCW Local 1994 MCGEO, SEIU 32BJ, CASA de Maryland, Maryland Working Families, Women’s Law Center of Maryland, AFSCME Maryland, and the Progressive Democrats of America.
As legislators continue to advance the Healthy Maryland Act, Montgomery County DSA looks forward to working with our allies to advance a transition to statewide single-payer health care that will be crafted to ensure economic justice and security for all healthcare industry workers and their patients.
The post MoCo DSA Steering Committee Votes to Support Healthy Maryland Act appeared first on Metro DC Democratic Socialists of America.
MoCo DSA Calls for Del. Lisanti to Resign or Be Expelled
Montgomery County DSA
MoCo DSA Calls for Del. Lisanti to Resign or Be Expelled
March 5, 2019
(SILVER SPRING, MD) —
The Montgomery County Democratic Socialists of America has joined the growing chorus of prominent organizations and political leaders calling on Maryland State Delegate Mary Ann Lisanti (D-Harford County) to resign her office. Its Steering Committee passed a resolution on Monday calling for Delegate Lisanti’s resignation or expulsion.
Delegate Lisanti, who used a vile racial slur in the presence of several fellow members of the Maryland House of Delegates in January, has attempted to imply that she may not have used the slur after initially confirming that she had. House Speaker Michael Busch has stripped her of her committee and leadership assignments, and the House has censured her for her behavior. In spite of numerous organizations and leaders calling on her to resign, Delegate Lisanti has refused to leave office.
Those calling on Delegate Lisanti to resign include the NAACP, the Legislative Black Caucus, Jews United for Justice, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Progressive Maryland, Maryland Democratic Party Chair Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, and the Harford County Democratic Central Committee.
The Montgomery County DSA Steering Committee issued the following statement:
“Delegate Lisanti’s behavior has been shameful. Not only did she use a vile, blood-soaked racial slur to describe her fellow Marylanders, but she has attempted to evade taking responsibility for her choices by prevaricating on whether or not she used the slur, arguing that diversity is hurting our country, and refusing to resign her office when called upon to do so. White supremacists have no place in the Maryland General Assembly, nor anywhere in our government. We stand in solidarity with the people of Prince George’s County and Harford County, and with those calling for Delegate Lisanti’s resignation. If she continues in her refusal to resign, we call upon the House of Delegates to exercise its authority under the Constitution of the State of Maryland to expel Delegate Lisanti from office.”
The post MoCo DSA Calls for Del. Lisanti to Resign or Be Expelled appeared first on Metro DC Democratic Socialists of America.
Caban for Queens
Today’s show is about radically re-imagining criminal justice, and approaching it from a socialist and anti-racist perspective. We’ll talk about NYC-DSA endorsed Tiffany Cabán's campaign for Queens DA and what she has the potential to do.