News Corporation, the New York Post’s parent company, utilizes corporate tax loopholes that enabled them to avoid paying an additional $291 million in state taxes and $1.2 billion federal income taxes between 2008 and 2010. Meanwhile, their top five executives make a combined $115 million and the savings they gain by scamming the 99% of New Yorkers struggling to get by enables them to spend millions of dollars on lobbyists, campaign contributions, and accountants.

Participants chanted “News Corp!, News Corp! Pay your taxes, so we can have homes and health care access!” which was heard during Fred Dicker’s radio show while he was interviewing Governor Cuomo. News Corp pays a considerably lower tax rate compared to a family of four making $58,000 a year in New York. Meanwhile, Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch makes nearly $17,000 per hour and owns at the very least five houses around the world.

It’s high time that New York implement real tax reform that benefits the majority of working class New Yorkers – not just the 1%. Check out below for a compilation of press clippings and photos.

Photos

Press Mentions

All sorts of schools and backgrounds were represented with students coming from various CUNY schools, Stony Brook, Purchase, New Paltz, Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo, Cortland, and even Syracuse and Rochester!

The day started off with a press conference on the Million Dollar Staircase, where several students and supporters spoke out against the years of budget cuts by the Legislature and the NY SUNY2020 program which increases tuition by over 30% over the next five years. Speakers included: Jimmy Swan, an undergraduate at Binghamton University; Jackie Hayes, graduate instructor at the University at Albany; Juliet Shen, an undergraduate at the University at Albany; Barbara Bowen, President of the Professional Staff Congress-CUNY; Bret Benjamin, Assistant Professor of English at the University at Albany; Nikki Jones, Communications Director at the Alliance for Quality Education; and Karen Scharff, Executive Director at Citizen Action of New York.

After the press conference, students marched around the Capitol, stopping at various locations where students and faculty members held teach-ins on topics including an Introduction to Southeast Asia, social justice, and issues in higher education. From the teach-ins, students took their message to the legislators themselves, going to various Senators’ offices voicing their frustration with the undemocratic process that governs both SUNY and CUNY, with disconnected administrators who make six figure salaries making decisions that increase the debt burden already facing students.

At the end of the day, protesters gathered outside Governor Cuomo’s office, where 33 students, Occupy and community members, and faculty sat down in an effort to get the Governor to come and address the students who he says he lobbies for. Ultimately, the Governor never came out and the protesters were arrested for the act of civil disobedience but were released shortly after.

Video of Karen Scharff Addressing the Crowd

Photos

Press

Citizen Action staff at the On May 12 protest

Citizen Action of New York is a grassroots membership organization taking on big issues that are at the center of transforming American society. We look for opportunities to accomplish big changes – not small, incremental reforms. We work to elect progressive candidates to office who are committed to these issues.

Citizen Action is also the New York State affiliate of USAction, which brings together citizen organizations from around the country to form a strong national progressive voice.

Are you fed up with the current state of affairs in our state/country?

Have you personally experience or witnessed injustice?

Do you want to bring real change to New York?

Need a good internship opportunity to build your resume while looking for full employment?

We’re looking for an individual who’s interested in New York’s political landscape, social justice, and social media. This internship is a great opportunity to get your foot in the door in state politics and to help make a New York – and country – that works for everyone.

This internship is based out of our statewide office which is located in Albany.

Why you should intern with us

There is a contagious, selective disease that has become an epidemic in Albany. It’s selective because it only affects politicians. Not all politicians, mind you, but it affects enough of them to affect how we live. I have named this disease “Big Money-itis”. It’s an insidious disease that occurs when professional politicians that have made elective office their career goal decides to finance their re-election campaigns with Big Money donors.

This selective disease causes those who are infected to become more concerned with the wishes and needs of big-money donors than the wishes and needs of those who elected them into office. Special interest – corporate interest, really – overrides what is in the best interest of the people of NYS.

New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo mentioned this affliction during his State of State Address. He spoke about the “pay to play’ culture, gridlock, corruption – all symptoms of Big Money-itis. Luckily for us, during his State of the State speech Cuomo proposed a solution to Big Money-itis. It will not cure them all (truth be told, some of them like being infected!) but its impact will change the way politics are conducted in Albany.

I’m talking about Voter Owned Elections. I’m talking about Publicly Financed Elections. I’m talking about the people of NYS owning the electoral process which elects their state representative instead of corporation and lobbyist money owning state representatives. If we want to get rid of Big Money-itis in Albany, if we want to change the political process in this state so that any citizen in New York State, regardless of where they come from – whether it is a rural farm in upstate NY or community activist in Greenwich, whether they come from the streets of Buffalo or a bodega in Spanish Harlem – we must get rid of Big Money-itis; so these individuals can actually one day become an elected representatives of the people. Let’s follow the lead of a Governor who got it right on this issue. Let’s pass Public Financing of Elections. Let’s pass Voter Owned Elections. Let’s pass Campaign Finance Reform in New York State – not in 2013, not in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 – let’s pass Public Financing of Election in 2012, let’s pass it now, let’s get rid of Big Money-itis, let’s take back our electoral process in NYS. 26 States have some form of public financing of elections. 16 of those states offer public funds to candidates running for office. Let’s make NYS one of those states.

This issue is so important that every person in this state, regardless of their political beliefs, regardless if they are a Republican or Democrat, regardless in they are a member of a community of color or from the LGBTQ community,, should take action. The people of New York should be in the street marching, on the phones calling, sitting down at a computer writing to their state representatives. We should tell them “look here employee, I pay you some of the best salaries in the nation, give you some of the best benefits and job perks other people could only dream of, I want you to go back to Albany and pass Voter Owned Elections. I want you to fight to make Campaign Finance Reform real. I want you for once to put voter interest above special interest. I want you to show me why I should keep you in office. Show me that you are not afraid of public financing because you know you do your job well. If they don’t do these things, we can only conclude that they are afraid of voter owned elections because they know they have Big Money-itis and they don’t want to be cured.”

I understand we are gathered here today to mourn for a second anniversary of the horrific decision of the Supreme Court to give even more “free speech” money in our political system to corporations. And I understand that for many, this decisions caused the untimely death to our democracy. But I am unwilling to believe that our democracy is truly dead. Here in New York – we have an opportunity to breathe new life into our democracy. Even though we must fight, long term, to overturn Citizens United, to end corporate personhood – we still must also implement a system of public campaign finance reform in order to open up our democracy to everyone. In order to have elected representatives who don’t have to depend on big money but who can run for office, win, and fight for the issues that we know will make positive changes in peoples lives. New life for our democracy and political process could be coming very soon to New York – but not without your help.

With that, I offer each of you a challenge today to help us change the political process in NYS, to help us stop “the business as usual” culture in Albany to help us limit the spread of Big-Money-itis.

Each of you can leave here today determined to tell a friend – to tell two friends – to write a letter or sign on to a letter that we will be sending to the Governor supporting his stance on public financing. Each of you can tell some one else to write a letter or a join a sign-on letter; you can make a phone call; visit a legislator; each of you could leave here today with a mindset that will shake the City of Albany, that will get the attention of the country, because if we change politics in NYS we will send a message that this government of the people, by the people will not be sold out. We are are going to win a system that begins to put people back in the drivers seat – not corporate special interest dollars.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_po8j1W9FQ

Click here to see pictures from the event!

Also, check out Knock for the 99%, a door-to-door campaign aiming to fight Governor Cuomo’s and the Legislature’s plan to give millionaires and billionaires a $4.6 billion dollar tax cut.

Consequences of the cuts include larger class sizes and decreased afterschool and extra-curricular opportunities for students, sharp increases in crime rates, crumbling infrastructure, and a slower response to devastating flood damage.

Students, senior citizens, working families, and disabled people have faced draconian cuts. These cuts have led directly to the loss of thousands of jobs. If we stop the tax break for the rich, we can restore the worst of the cuts.

Other local leaders also participated in today’s event, urging for the continuation of the surcharge. Present were New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness Executive Director Ron Deutsch and Christ Church pastor and Troy City Councilwoman-elect Nina Nichols, who operates a soup kitchen out of the church.

“Troy has been particularly hard hit by budget cuts from the state. We just saw the closure of one of our neighborhood elementary schools, and many of our residents are living below the poverty line.The recent flooding and devastation of our downtown infrastructure and the Poestenkill Dam by Tropical Storm Irene only exacerbate the situation. We desperately need help from our state government,” said Nichols.

It was stressed at the meeting that although the surcharge is set to end on December 31, we still have until April to enact legislation. The surcharge will be applied retroactively and no crucial funding will be sacrificed.

“Governor Cuomo has reported that we are facing yet another budget shortfall that will require the Legislature to be called back for a special session. It seems increasingly clear that it isn’t a spending problem we have, but a revenue problem – and the Governor, in refusing to extend the millionaires’ tax, refuses to address the problem,” said Deutsch.

After the event, a delicious lasagna lunch was served.

In the meantime, how about submitting a nomination? The Perry Awards is all about giving proper recognition to those in our community who have shown exemplary leadership, and have put in blood, sweat, and tears into fighting for a better Capital District, New York, and America.

Click here to submit your nomination through our online form.

The deadline for nominations is August 17, 2011.

Here’s some background from last year’s event program:

Jim Perry was a founding member of Citizen Action of the Capital District and a lesbian/gay rights leader both in the Capital District and statewide. His dedication to progressive politics and coalition building paved the way for the passage Albany’s Human Rights Ordinance.

From his first involvement in politics during the 1972 presidential campaign for George McGovern, through his death of AIDS-related complications on Lesbian and Gay Pride Day in 1991, Jim relentlessly fought with passion to turn his progressive ideas into real change.

Jim was instrumental in the merging of the New York State Lesbian and Gay Lobby (of which he was Executive Director for two years) and FAIRPAC (Friends and Advocates of Individuals Rights PAC) to form the Empire State Pride Agenda. He was the president of the Eleanor Roosevelt Democratic Club from 1985 to 1988.

Jim’s leadership role in progressive politics both in the Capital District and statewide was exemplary.

It is with the memories of his actions and words that Citizen Action of the Capital District presents the annual Jim Perry Progressive Leadership Awards to recipients who have demonstrated a commitment to community activism and leadership.

Click here to submit your nomination now.

(Need a paper form? Click here to download a printable PDF).

For the past three decades, Washington politicians and their benefactors have broken their promises of jobs and economic relief to struggling working families. Instead, they have turned the “American Dream” of health, education and success into an American Nightmare of poverty, foreclosures and a loss of stability and dignity.

Now, they’re coming for our Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, all to pay for more tax cuts for the rich and sweetheart deals for big corporations. The upper one percent of Americans currently control over one third of the private wealth in America, and instead of paying their fair share, they now want to take the programs that we have spent our entire lives working to build. It’s our money and we’re not going to sit back and watch them take it!

Joining our staff, coalition partners, and concerned supporters were President Franklin Delanor Roosevelt and his wife Elanor Roosevelt, who oversaw the implementation of The New Deal, an economic overhaul in the 1930s that stimulated the recovery of the economy after the Great Depression and provided jobs and stability to thousands of working families. Arriving in a stately Studebaker, the elegant couple added an air of prestige and elegance to our caravan.

The Caravan commenced at Kleinhans Music Hall, a world-class venue that was made possible by Roosevelt’s New Deal. It was a fitting location to start off the procession and a testament to the ability of government to provide jobs and security instead of preying upon vulnerable working families.

Many citizens spoke about the need to restore the American Promise. Speakers included elderly people that rely upon essential services in order to pay for medication, disabled parents that rely upon the safety net in order to provide for their children, and concerned adults that have to care for their parents, among many others.

Meeting at 11 different locations across New York State, our Caravan garnered thousands of demonstrators, a myriad of press coverage (click here to read a list of articles) and supporters from different political parties (including Republicans!). America’s true majority came out to express their disbelief at the immense greed required to strip America’s social safety net.

Fracking is a method of gas extraction that involves injecting secret, highly-toxic chemicals deep underground to fracture rock formations. Fracking has been linked to over 1,000 incidents of groundwater contamination across the nation. The process is currently unregulated due to numerous exemptions in federal laws, and is a threat to our public health and environment.

Featuring passionate speakers, a supportive and involved audience, and a heavy press presence, the rally was a resounding success.

The event was co-sponsored by many organizations: Frack Action, Food & Water Watch, Friends of The Earth, Democracy for America, Catskill Mountainkeeper, Center for Health, Environment, & Justice, United for Action, Sane Energy Project, CREDO Action, Damascus Citizens, NYH2O, Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation, The WE Campaign, New York Residents Against Drilling (NYRAD), Capital District Against Fracking (CDAF), Brooklyn Food Coalition, West 80s Neighborhood Association, Coalition for a Livable West Side, Gas Drilling Awareness for Cortland County (GDACC), Shaleshock, No Frack NY, Real Majority Project, Dryden Resource Awareness Coalition, Green Umbrella, Onondaga Creek Conservation Council, Green Bus Tour, New Paltz Climate Action Coalition, The Interfaith Alliance–Long Island Chapter