Middle Class Defense Coalition
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Middle Class Defense Coalition ®
Welcome to Our Gathering Place
The greatest strengths of a country lie with its working class. We are your teachers, your police and firemen. We are your builders and fixers and laborers. We are the public servants who provide the services you need every day. We are motivated by the desire to serve the greater good.
Our fathers, mothers and grandparents fought for the rights you now enjoy in your workplace. We are the last stronghold of the American middle class against those who wield enormous wealth to exploit the powerless. Together our voices can accomplish great things.
On May 11, teachers, police officers, firefighters, construction workers, healthcare workers, retail workers and many others came together at a rally at Buena High School in Ventura, CA to fight for our middle class and stop egregious cuts to public services and education.
"Something is wrong when 30,000 teachers were laid off across California and companies like G.E. made $14 billion last year worldwide while paying nothing in U.S. taxes," said Colleen Briner-Schmidt, in announcing the formation of the Middle Class Defense Coalition.
Massive cuts to services on the state and federal level have put the focus on the workers who provide them rather than on the root of the problem -- a series of poor public policies which have allowed the health of our economy to deteriorate and pushed wealth away from the middle and lower classes and toward high-wage earners.
The rally also brought out many parents and students worried about the future of public education in California.
"It's been a very difficult time. Kids are just not getting the attention they deserve. We're putting our kids at an international disadvantage," said Buena High School senior and ASB President Bret Colman.
Foothill High School senior Hannah Maryanski put it this way: "Honestly, I'm terrified. I feel that the future students of California public schools will be shortchanged, denied the right to pursue their happiness simply because there wasn't enough money."
The event was part of a larger statewide series of protests. For more information on other events in California, go here.
More than 500 Join "We Are One" March and
Middle Class Defense Coalition Press Conference
KEYT-TV coverage of the rally at Buena High School in Ventura on May 11, 2011.
KEYT-TV coverage on June 8, 2011 of press conference announcing possible grocery worker strike.
We need your help to stop the most insidious
attack yet on working people in California
Backed by conservative funding, signature gatherers have placed on the November 2012 ballot one of the most deceptive attempts yet to limit the rights of workers. The Stop Special Interest Money Now initiative claims to stop the flow of money from both corporations and unions into political campaigns, yet its controls would only silence the voice of working families by singling out unions with regulations that won’t apply to anyone else.
In the political process, corporations already outspend unions more than 19-to-1. The result of this initiative would be a devastating tilt in power to the corporate elite that would further undermine California's middle class.
This cynical measure isn’t about special interests. It’s designed to silence teachers, nurses, firefighters and other working people while giving big corporations and CEOs free rein to exert limitless influence on our political system.
All Americans should be alarmed by this blatant power grab. The measure’s backers are trying to fool the public as part of a deceptive agenda to give even more power to the very wealthiest among us.
Corporate bosses already have massive influence over politicians. This deceptive measure would give them even more power to offshore our jobs, cut our pay and shrink our middle class.
Spread the word: Don't support this deceptive initiative.
Accompanied by the Middle Class Defense Coalition, nurses in Camarillo, CA paid a visit to U.S. Rep. Elton Gallegly's office on Sept. 1 after a short rally outside. The nurses made an appointment to see the congressman, but were greeted instead by a young intern while senior staffers hid behind closed doors.
The rally was part of a nationwide effort by the nurses to bring attention to the true cause of our economic woes: Wall Street malfeasance. The nurses are calling for a small transaction tax on this industry. For a look at other rallies across the country, go here.
Nurses ask Wall Street to pay
A look at California's proposed Millionaires Tax
The Millionaires Tax of 2012 is a ballot initiative proposal for the November 2012 election that asks the richest Californians to pay their fair share to help fund public education and vital public services.
For more, go here.
