People’s Stimulus Rally | Columbia, SC

Wednesday, April 1, 5:30 – 6:30pm – State House, Columbia

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Gov. Mark Sanford is refusing to take  $700 million in stimulus money that South Carolinians will have to pay for even if we don’t use.

Tell the governor to quit grandstanding at our expense!

If the governor does not sign the stimulus agreement by April 3, SC will have to lay off thousands of teachers, public safety employees and increase tuition at our colleges and universities.

Join teachers, public workers, students, and your neighbors who are facing cutbacks, layoffs and increasing debts to tell Sanford:   “Governor, it’s OUR money!”

Instead of pouring our money into bailing out wealthy bankers, we need government investments that create new jobs, provide health care and quality education for all, end the foreclosure epidemic and support sustainable, clean energy.

Sponsored by the SC Progressive Network

http://www.scpronet.com  *  803.808.3384

Click HERE to download a flyer to post in your school, church, business or neighborhood.

South Carolina Progressive Network
POB 8325 Columbia SC 29202
803-808-3384 * fax: 803-808-3781
E-mail: network@scpronet.com
Web: <http://www.scpronet.com&gt; http://www.scpronet.com
Blog: <http://www.scpronet.com/wordpress/&gt; http://www.scpronet.com/wordpress

YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/scpronet

Rally called by SC Organizing for America, March 24, has been cancelled.

From the Columbia Progressive Network

Friends,
The rally called by Organizing for America, March 24, has been cancelled.

The organizers, whose work is an extension of the Obama campaign,
felt that the anti-Sanford sentiment in SC was too negative for their
national program to support Obama's stimulus program.

While the SC Progressive Network appreciates their concern, we feel
that there is a need for South Carolinians to express their
displeasure with Sanford's notion that social welfare is not a
government concern.

We are also concerned that the loudest voices the president is
hearing regarding the stimulus plans are from the financial industry.

Accordingly, we are considering organizing a protest that would
address both Sanford's and the Obama Administration's approach to
addressing peoples needs in these difficult economic times. We believe
that the president's ability to speak up for working people is
predicated on our willingness to speak out.

We need to hear from you if you are on board for a rally at the state
house that would address working people's needs in the federal
stimulus program.

An example of our concerns is exemplified in the recent three day
mortgage counseling event in Columbia, hosted by a nonprofit
organization. They saw 20,000 people, and left thousands standing
outside. This counseling was able to reduce some peoples mortgage
payments 50% and reduce interest payments. Why can't the stimulus
money be used to provide this service to everyone?

Reply to this email if you are willing to participate and promote a
rally for some of the trillions of dollars in stimulus money going to
help working people.
--
South Carolina Progressive Network
POB 8325 Columbia SC 29202
803-808-3384 * fax: 803-808-3781

E-mail: network@scpronet.com
Web: <http://www.scpronet.com> www.scpronet.com
Blog: <http://www.scpronet.com/wordpress/> www.scpronet.com/wordpress
YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/scpronet

Putting their careers before our economy

From James, Gabriel, Clarissa, William, Dani and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team.

The Obama stimulus plan provides desperately needed money to help turn the economy around. But six Republican governors want to block some of that money from reaching their states–they’re trying to score political points instead of letting the money go where it’s needed most. Help us call them out:

http://colorofchange.org/sixgovs/?id=1672-704486

Mark Sanford

First, they attacked the expansion of unemployment benefits–assistance directed to those hit the hardest by the economy. Now they’re going further, led by Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina who says he’ll block $700 million for schools and public safety in his state. It could mean up to 7,500 teachers in South Carolina losing their jobs.¹

With your help we can hold these governors accountable–but time is running out. The deadline for governors to accept the full range of stimulus funds is rapidly approaching. Can you add your voice? It only takes a second:

http://colorofchange.org/sixgovs/?id=1672-704486

Rick Perry

It’s incredible. President Obama’s stimulus package provides money for states to help stabilize families and keep the economy moving. Some of that money is to help states extend unemployment benefits for people in dire need of help. There’s also money to prevent schools from facing cuts as states tighten their budgets. But a handful of Republican governors–Bob Riley of Alabama, Mark Sanford of South Carolina, Rick Perry of Texas, Sarah Palin of Alaska, Haley Barbour of Mississippi, and Bobby Jindal of Louisiana–are putting politics over people.^2,3

Sarah Palin

All six governors have threatened to turn down the unemployment expansion funds, and most critics see their actions as partisan grandstanding. Four are 2012 presidential contenders,⁴ and one is facing a tough primary challenge for reelection.⁵⁶ They also claim that taking the stimulus money would leave their states in debt when it runs out in three years. But that argument rings hollow–state legislatures could reduce benefits to pre-stimulus levels at that point. They all have a vested interest in seeing Obama fail. They’re attacking the President’s policies to increase their own profile and to cozy up to the most die-hard conservatives.

Now, Gov. Sanford of South Carolina is going further with this political posturing, and there are indications that others may follow.⁷ Sanford says he wants to use money meant for schools, health care, and public safety to pay down his state’s debt. This would in no way stimulate the economy of South Carolina.

Sanford has said that if he can’t use the money to pay down debt, he’ll reject it. That would seriously harm South Carolina’s economy, affecting everyone in the state–but it would have a disproportionate impact on Black people in the state. Schools in many Black communities in South Carolina already suffer from years of neglect.⁸ And in every state where GOP governors are threatening to block stimulus funds, Black unemployment is at least twice the rate of White unemployment.⁹

Bobby Jindal

Bob Riley

Haley Barbour

Black advocacy group to flood Gov. Mark Sanford’s office with calls

ColorOfChange.org members demand that South Carolina governor stop playing politics with stimulus funds

Members of ColorOfChange.org, the nation’s largest online African-American advocacy group, are scheduled to flood South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford’s office with phone calls today demanding that he accept the full amount of federal stimulus funds intended to buoy his struggling state’s economy.

The effort is set to launch just days after Sanford announced he may refuse nearly a quarter of the stimulus dollars, including those targeted for education, unemployment benefits and other social programs. The group said it expected to tie up the lines at Sanford’s office throughout the day with hundreds of calls to drive home the importance of putting economic recovery — in South Carolina and throughout the country — before political posturing.

The callers are among more than 28,000 ColorOfChange.org members who recently signed an open letter to Sanford and five other Republican governors who have threatened to reject federal stimulus funds. The letter urges them to put their constituents’ well-being ahead of their desire to build their own national profiles within the Republican party.

Sanford, chair of the Republican Governors Association, has said he would accept a portion of the stimulus funds only if he can use it to pay down debt, a position that ColorOfChange.org Executive Director James Rucker called indefensible.

“As people in South Carolina struggle with this recession, Governor Sanford has decided to stand in the way of the help,” said Rucker. “It’s obvious even to Republicans in South Carolina that this has nothing to do with what’s best for the state — it’s all about scoring political points.”

“Schools in South Carolina can’t afford for thousands of teachers to lose their jobs, and neither can America’s economy,” Rucker continued. “But it seems like Governor Sanford thinks that currying favor with the far right of his political party is more important than stopping the economic bleeding.”

The group noted that black South Carolinians, nearly a third of the state’s population, will be hit particularly hard by Sanford’s decision to reject stimulus funds. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that blacks in that state are twice as likely as whites to be unemployed. The state’s jobless rate, at 10.4%, is second highest in the country.