AOC on Gaza and Young People, Biden and the Democrats

Start at 29 minutes. 

Support the American River Parkway _ Urgent !

http://www.americanrivertrees.org/

This is what they propose:

like near Sac State. 

 This email serves as official notification from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Sacramento District (USACE) regarding the extension of the public comment period for the American River Common Features (ARCF), 2016 Flood Risk Management Project, Sacramento, California, Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement / Subsequent Environmental Impact Report XIV (SEIS/SEIR) (EIS/CEQ no. 20230179).

 

The Notice of Availability was posted in the Federal Register by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on December 22, 2023 (88 FR 88610). The original close of the public comment period was scheduled for February 5, 2024. USACE, in conjunction with the Project non-federal Partners (the Central Valley Flood Protection Board, State of California, Department of Water Resources, and the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency) have extended the public comment period to Friday, February 23, 2024, in response to requests for additional review time from the public and local agencies.

 

Written comments can be sent to the following email addresses:

ARCF_SEIS@usace.army.mil

PublicCommentARCF16@water.ca.gov

 

The Draft SEIS/SEIR can be viewed on the USACE website. 

www.sacleveeupgrades.com

The Problems With Biden

The Problems With Biden: He has to dig himself out of three holes if he has any chance to beat Donald Trump.

The Dangers of Fascism in 2024

  

 

North Star  has  a new post up by Fred Glass on the dangers of Fascists in the 2024 Elections.

https://www.dsanorthstar.org/blog/2024-the-fascist-danger

 

Topics include

No Lesser of two evils approach.

Retaining the possibility of a socialist movement. 

 

Recall that the rise of fascism in Germany and German American Bund in the U.S. was based on the first targets being the opposition and destruction of communist ( and socialists) movements. 

 

 

CSU Strike Settled - Pending vote

CSU Strike Settled _ Pending Vote of Members 

 The strike at the largest university system in the nation has ended ( subject to ratification vote by the faculty union.

Posted 

“The collective action of so many lecturers, professors, counselors, librarians and coaches over these last eight months forced C.S.U. management to take our demands seriously,” Charles Toombs, president of the union, said in a statement.

The deal would immediately increase salaries for all faculty members by 5 percent, retroactively to July 1, 2023, with another 5 percent raise to take effect July 1, 2024, according to union officials. It would also immediately raise the salary floor for the lowest-paid faculty members by $3,000, and increase paid parental leave to 10 weeks from six.

Mildred García, the chancellor of the university system, said in a statement Monday night that she was “extremely pleased” with the deal, adding that it “enables the C.S.U. to fairly compensate its valued, world-class faculty while protecting the university system’s long-term financial sustainability.”

I participated in the creation of this union and was a local official prior to retirement.

 

Sac State Strike Begins _ System Wide Strike

 Clouds, chills and the threat of rain didn’t dissuade Sacramento State faculty from forming the first picket line of the spring semester. Professors, lecturers, librarians, coaches and counselors shut down the California State University’s 23 campuses Monday just as many of their students returned for the spring semester. The week-long shutdown follows a series of rolling one-day strikes across four campuses in December. 

Roughly 75 people walked the picket line Monday outside Sacramento State, flanking the campus’ J Street entrance. The banners welcoming students back from break were covered with union-made signs that read, “Classes don’t start without us!” and “On strike! California Faculty Association.”

 This latest labor action at the nation’s largest university system rides the wave of union momentum in higher education created by the 2022 monthlong strike at the University of California system. Teaching assistants and graduate student workers disrupted classes across UC campuses as the fall semester concluded. 

The CFA, which represents 29,000 members, and university negotiators have spent nearly nine months haggling over salaries and other provisions as part of contract negotiation re-opener. Those non-salary demands include increased parental leave, greater access to gender-inclusive restrooms in campus buildings and more staff mental health counselors to help students. After the two sides hit an impasse in August, they engaged in mediation sessions with a third-party negotiator and then submitted to fact-finding with a neutral panelist.

the writer of this piece is under informed. 

From The Sacramento Bee.

Read more at: https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/education/article284543095.html#storylink=cpy

Sac State Strike Begins on Monday

CSU Management Walks Out of Bargaining, Systemwide Strike Set for January 22-26 

The CFA Bargaining Team reserved four days for re-opener contract negotiations this week, making every effort to bargain in good faith and explore the space for a negotiated solution before a systemwide strike January 22 to 26. CFA members delivered four proposals Monday (January 8), but were met with disrespect from management today. After 20 minutes, the CSU management bargaining team threatened systemwide layoffs, walked out of bargaining, cancelled all remaining negotiations, then imposed a last, best and final offer on CFA members.

Rather than bargain in good faith with CFA members, CSU management expressed nothing but disdain for faculty. We know they have the money in their flush reserve accounts.

CSU management has never taken seriously our proposals for desperately needed equity transformation for CSU students, faculty, and staff, including raising base salary for our lowest-paid, struggling faculty, manageable workloads for more student engagement, more mental health services for students, limits to police power, and humane and adequate parental leave.

Instead of showing care and concern for the issues faculty have raised repeatedly at the bargaining table since last May, Chancellor Mildred García and her team seem intent on a campaign of insult and intimidation.

Management’s imposition gives us no other option but to continue to move forward with our plan for a systemwide strike in coalition with Teamsters Local 2010 members. The systemwide strike on all 23 campuses over January 22 – January 26 must demonstrate to the Chancellor that she must do right by the faculty, staff, and students of the CSU.

It’s time to get involved and uplift our faculty, staff, and students. Sign up for the January strike dates and join the picket lines! If you have other questions or concerns, please reach out to us at bargainingideas@calfac.org.

Strike FAQs

 

Save The American River Parkway

Don't let this happen here along the American River. 

We have started our own webpage: 

https://www.americanrivertrees.org/project-3b

 We have had 2 TV interviews/coverage:

https://www.cbsnews.com/sacramento/news/trees-along-american-river-are-on-the-chopping-block-for-flood-control/

 

https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/sacramento/tree-clearing-flood-infrastructure/103-404c252c-6366-43ca-ad10-2d0068bf337d

And we have a Facebook Page:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/353294447441210/?multi_permalinks=364367569667231¬if_id=1705461082626019¬if_t=feedback_reaction_generic&ref=notif

This is such a great learning experience.  A lot of this is putting yourself out there.

God Made a Dictator

 

Faculty Prepare for Strike at Sac State: the CSU

 

Members of the California Faculty Association rallied during a strike in December at San Francisco State University. Godofredo A. Vásquez/Associated Press

Faculty members at the California State University system, the nation’s largest four-year public university system, are planning to cancel classes and strike next week as they demand higher pay and better benefits.

The California Faculty Association, which represents 29,000 professors, lecturers, librarians, counselors and coaches, says it will begin a five-day strike on Monday, the first day of the spring semester for most students. Walkouts are planned at all 23 campuses, from Humboldt to San Diego, which together serve nearly 460,000 students.

The strike was set after university officials ended contract negotiations last week, having offered 5 percent raises; the union is seeking 12 percent pay increases. University leaders said they were grappling with a huge budget deficit and could not afford to meet the union’s demands without resorting to layoffs and other cuts.

“We have been in the bargaining process for eight months and the C.F.A. has shown no movement, leaving us no other option” but to break off the talks, Leora Freedman, the university system’s vice chancellor for human resources, said in a statement. She added that the system had recently agreed on 5 percent pay increases with five other labor unions.

The union’s president, Charles Toombs, said he hoped that the university would return to the bargaining table so the strike could be averted.

In addition to raises, the union also wants to increase the salary floor for full-time employees to $64,360 from $54,360, and is asking for other provisions, including caps on class sizes and expansion of paid parental leave.

“That is where we stand,” Toombs told me. “We know that a systemwide strike in the C.S.U. is going to be historic.”

The union’s members mounted one-day work stoppages in early December at four of the system’s largest campuses: Cal Poly Pomona, San Francisco State, Cal State Los Angeles and Sacramento State.

Hazel Kelly, a spokesperson for the system, told me that all campuses would remain open during the strike and that university leaders would try to limit disruptions to students. She said it was possible that not all classes would be canceled, because some faculty members may not participate in the strike.

The job action comes after an especially busy year for labor actions, particularly in California. Hollywood actors and writers went on strike; so did hotel and health care workers. Los Angeles schools employees staged a huge walkout in March, and Oakland educators were off the job for nearly two weeks in May.

MARCH ON WASHINGTON D.C. FOR GAZA Cornel West

Martin Luther King Jr. - Video Collection

 

 

Martin Luther King – a Video Selection 1954 – 1968 January 11, 2024 Portside     Martin Luther King's speeches from 1954's Montgomery Bus Boycott to the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Strike. Compiled by Abdul Alkalimat, Prof Emeritus Dept of African American Studies and School of Information Sciences, Univ of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

 

 

https://portside.org/2024-01-11/martin-luther-king-video-selection-1954-1968?

 

 Excellent videos.

  

Sacramento: MLK March

 

 

Sacramento: The 42^nd Annual “March for the Dream" Walk will take place on MLK Jr. Day, Monday, Jan. 15. Registration is free—no charge to participate! Free transportation back to City College is available if you cannot walk the entire route. Visit the MLK Walk website to learn more and register. 

California Poor People's Campaign.,

Upcoming meetings

We’re going to Sacramento! Mobilization meeting  Saturday Jan. 20, 12pm | RSVP SEIU 721 building (1545 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles) Los Angeles is getting organized to go to Sacramento on March 2 as part of a national day of action that will take place in 30 states. We are calling for all hands on deck to organize this effort collectively—help with outreach, transportation, media and more is needed. Our March 2 actions will call politicians to account for allowing policies of violence to continue. We will demand they stop making concessions for the wealthy while leaving families and children to die in poverty.   Lunch and English/Spanish interpretation will be provided. Don’t forget to fill out this formand let us know you’ll be there.   Statewide organizing meetings Wednesdays, 6:30pm | RSVP Help us organize for the March 2 rally in Sacramento and other 2024 efforts. You’ll meet activists from around the state and take part in mobilizing our communities for these historic actions. It’s a place to lend a hand and to learn from one another. Drop in any Wednesday.

The Wealthy are Not Paying Taxes

https://truthout.org/articles/uss-wealthiest-collectively-held-8-5-trillion-in-untaxed-assets-in-2022/

US’s Wealthiest Collectively Held $8.5 Trillion in Untaxed Assets in 2022

“This is why we need a billionaire income tax,” Americans for Tax Fairness said.

Jake Johnson, Common Dreams, January 4, 2024Elon Musk attends Atreju 2023, a conservative political festival, on December 16, 2023, in Rome, Italy. Alessandra Benedetti - Corbis / Corbis via Getty Images

An analysis released Wednesday shows that in 2022, the wealthiest people in the United States collectively held a “staggering” $8.5 trillion in wealth that is not — and might never be — subject to taxation.

Examining recently released data Federal Reserve data for 2022, Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF) found that the roughly 64,000 U.S. households with at least $100 million in wealth — less than 0.05% of the population — controlled more than one in every six dollars of the country’s “unrealized gains,” profits that aren’t taxable until the underlying asset, such as a stock position, is sold.

“But the ultra-wealthy don’t need to sell to benefit: They can live off low-cost loans secured against their growing fortunes. And once inherited, such gains disappear completely for tax purposes,” ATF’s Zachary Tashman and William Rice explained in the new analysis. “While most Americans predominantly live off the income they earn from a job — income that is taxed all year, every year — the very richest households live lavishly off capital gains that may never be taxed.”

That small, ultra-rich fraction of U.S. society is sitting on more unrealized capital gains than the bottom 84% of the country — roughly 110 million households — combined, Tashman and Rice noted.

Most of the typical U.S. household’s unrealized capital gains are in the form of their homes, which face state and local property taxes. But 93% of the unrealized gains of America’s wealthiest are tied up in businesses, stock portfolios, and mutual funds, ATF found. As a result, mega-rich individuals such as Tesla CEO Elon Musk — the wealthiest man on the planet — wind up paying little to nothing in federal income taxes.

Between 2013 and 2018, leading U.S. billionaires paid an average federal tax rate of just 4.8%, according to a previous ATF analysis.

“This is why we need a billionaire income tax,” the group wrote on social media Wednesday, pointing to legislative proposals reintroduced late last year in both chambers of Congress.

Sen. Ron Wyden’s (D-Ore.) Billionaires Income Tax would tax the tradable assets of individuals with more than $100 million in annual income or more than $1 billion in assets for three consecutive years, according to a summary released by the Oregon Democrat’s office.

In the House, Reps. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) and Don Beyer (D-Va.) unveiled a bill that mirrors President Joe Biden’s call for a minimum income tax for billionaires. The legislation would require ultra-wealthy households to pay a 25% annual tax rate on their income, including unrealized gains.

Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case backed by right-wing groups aiming to preemptively outlaw any tax on unrealized gains. The justices — with the notable exception of Samuel Alito, who was urged to recuse from the case due to his connection to a lawyer representing the plaintiffs — appeared unlikely to issue the kind of sweeping ruling demanded by right-wing organizations such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

ATF’s analysis found that the wealth of America’s billionaires and centimillionaires has exploded in recent years as Republicans have enacted massive tax cuts for the rich while wealth tax proposals have languished in Congress.

“The cumulative $8.5 trillion of unrealized capital gains held by America’s billionaires and centi-millionaires in 2022 has jumped by more than half — or $3.2 trillion — just since the last Fed survey year of 2019,” Tashman and Rice wrote. “That increase continues a decades-long upward trend among the richest households in the United States.”

To begin reversing the trend and addressing the extreme and dangerous stratification of U.S. society by wealth, Tashman and Rice argued that Congress must “curb the economic and political power of the richest households by annually taxing their investment gains — whether realized or not — just as workers’ wages are taxed now, every year, all year round.”

“Without this necessary reform to our system of taxation,” they warned, “the growth of untaxed income at the very top of our economy will continue to accelerate, to the benefit of a tiny few and the detriment of everyone else.” 

How a GOP Campaign Ousted Harvard’s Claudine Gay

Choosing Democracy: Save AMERICAN RIVER Trees

Dear Parkway Partners & American River Trees (ART) Supporters:

We have all been following the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)/Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency (SAFCA) levee work on portions of the lower American River.  The work started at Paradise Beach, Campus Commons Golf Course, H Street Bridge, and Sac State/Howe.  These huge engineering projects resulted in the almost total removal of trees and vegetation from the River and Parkway.

The Corps has recently released the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement/Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (SEIS/SEIR) for the next phase of their erosion protection measures (Contract 3B).  The upcoming Contract 3B envisions similar devasting impacts to areas of the River and Parkway between Howe Avenue bridge and Watt Avenue bridge, continuing a mile upstream of the Watt Avenue bridge to the vicinity of Mayhew/Rio Bravo Circle on the River's south bank, and Estates Drive on the north bank.  The work includes access ramps behind Rio Bravo, and an equipment staging area in Larchmont Community Park.  The newly released environmental report anticipates bulldozing over 500 more Parkway trees.

Parkway advocates and concerned citizens are mobilizing to question the efficacy of these massive erosion protection measures in the areas of the River and Parkway identified in Contract 3B. USACE has scheduled virtual public meetings for January 10 and January 16, 2024 at 5:30 p.m.  Comments on the Draft SEIS/SEIR are due by February 5, 2024. 

Choosing Democracy: Save AMERICAN RIVER Trees: URGENT!   Another stretch of our beautiful Wild and Scenic American River is at huge risk! U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has multiple...

Buckle Up, The 2024 Election Is Here | Robert Reich

What Should We Be Doing About the 2024 Elections ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85LYYNi-ZNI