AFLCIO Blog
Mike Hall
Statewide
http://blog.aflcio.org/2011/07/20/new-york-caravan-to-restore-the-american-promise-hits-the-road/
A coalition of New York State community, senior and labor groups is on the road today and tomorrow in a “Restore the American Promises” tour. The activists are holding lawmakers accountable for their attacks on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, while ignoring the nation’s real problems, the economy and jobs.
The two-day caravans, one in upstate and one in downstate, will hit the offices of eight Republican congressional representatives with demonstrations and marches before joining together for a rally tomorrow at the FDR Presidential Library and Home in Hyde Park. Click here for a list of events.
Suzy Ballantyne of the New York State AFL-CIO says the push to destroy Medicare and Social Security in the Republican budget and deficit reduction proposals are the
latest in a series of maneuvers by politicians in the past few months in Washington and those favoring corporate special interests across the country, to push an agenda of overreach. Instead of creating jobs and fixing our economy, Congressional Republicans voted to give massive new tax cuts to Wall Street and the rich and pay for them by cutting deeply into services for seniors, children and working families.
The coalition includes New York State Alliance for Retired Americans, Citizen Action of New York, AFSCME, 1199 SEIU, Fight for Fair Economy, New York Statewide Senior Action Council, New York Association on Independent Living.
Most of the caravan stops will be at the offices of freshman lawmakers. Citizen Action’s Mary Clark says New York voters “are mad as hell because the new members of Congress didn’t tell the truth about their real programs when they were candidates.”
As candidates, the new Republicans promised to create jobs and fix the economy, but instead, they’re proposing to take apart programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security that built prosperity in America. We’re not going to let a small minority undermine the American promise for the majority any longer.
