From the Green-Rainbow Party
4/29/2011
Dear GRP supporters and activists,
Please join us at the hearing Thursday, May 5, anytime between 10:00 AM & 3:00 PM, State House Gardner Auditorium, Boston. Come tell the Governor and legislature to stop slashing critical health, education, social and environmental services in order to protect billions in useless corporate tax give-aways and subsidies for the massive, needless health insurance bureaucracy!
Raise the bar for a better budget and real tax reform. As a first step, we’re also supporting “An Act to Invest In Our Communities” (SB1416 / HB2553) at the hearing. Supporting this revenue bill is one part of our commitment to stop the cruel, & unnecessary cuts that the governor and legislature are proposing.
In addition to asking the rich to pay their fair share, the GRP is also calling for single-payer Medicare-for-all health care and the elimination of unjustified and ineffective corporate subsidies – saving at least $2.5 billion a year. The Green-Rainbow Party alone brings it all together into a “Better Budget,” which will not only prevent new budget cuts, but will allow us to restore essential public services that have been severely compromised over the past decade.
We can’t afford any more bipartisan attacks on low and middle income people while the big banks, insurance companies, corporations and the most fortunate continue to amass ever greater extremes of wealth. The people of Massachusetts deserve better – the GRP Better Budget!
For more details, see below, and www.Green-Rainbow.org .
Hope to see you there!
John Andrews and Jill Stein, GRP co-chairs
Shirley Kressel and Nat Fortune, the GRP Better Budget Initiative
PS. We’ll have stickers and buttons to give you at the hearing to show the rising tide of GRP support for real change for a just and sustainable future. If you’d like, wear something green (or rainbow!) colored in addition.
PPS. For more info, or if you’d like to help at the rally, call 617-418-3756, or email office@green-rainbow.org .
More background on the budget crisis
State officials say we face a $1.9 billion budget deficit, and intend to further slash essential public services and weaken collective bargaining. The “Act to Invest In Our Communities” legislation would raise $1.2 billion in new revenue annually. It restores the state income tax rate from 5.3% to 5.9%, but raises the personal exemption enough to freeze or decrease the tax burden for middle-class and low-income families. It also raises revenue from investment income which does not impact the majority of Massachusetts families. The financial impacts are explained at http://onema.org/sites/default…
Other important bills to end wasteful corporate tax giveaways:
HB2565/S153 An act for economic efficiency and transparency HB3015 An Act relative to the taxation of certain mutual fund service corporations (ends the Fidelity giveaway).