Rally in Trenton on May 22, 2010 Update
by Pam Hartkopf
“They say cut
back. We say fight back!”
Amid signs of
“One Christie is enough,” “Cuts bleed,” “I am the victim of a hate crime,” and
“Christie: The Biggest Loser”
about 35,000 New Jerseyans gathered in Trenton on Saturday, May 22nd to rally
against the governor’s budget cuts.
One speaker referred to it as the biggest rally in Trenton’s
history. The general message was
to save our schools, services, seniors and the state. Overwhelmingly the speakers spoke against the governor’s
refusal to continue the millionaire’s tax and in support of public workers.
A specific
question to the governor’s cap of 2.5% on the wages of public employees and
budgets arose: Who is in turn
putting a cap of 2.5% on utility bills, grocery bills, gasoline and other costs
that many New Jerseyans must pay on reduced or frozen salaries and
pensions? Reference was also made
to a remark about the state’s paying its part of the pension fund “if it has
the funds”. None of us can tell
our mortgage companies that we don’t have the funds available without risking
the loss of our homes.
Please call your legislators and
Governor Christie (at 609-292-6000) and tell them to restore funding in the
state budget for services that families and communities count on. Visit your legislators’ offices and
tell them how your community and family are affected by the governor’s
cuts. Find your local legislators’
names, phone numbers, and mailing addresses by visiting
www.njleg.state.nj.us/districts/municipalities.asp.
Snippets from
the speakers:
* William Mc Nary (US
Action Committee President)
o “New
Jersey is in crisis.”
o The
wealthy get tax breaks but the poor, disabled, elderly
and working families get no breaks.
o Restore the
millionaire’s tax.
* Reverend Bruce Davidson
o Police,
firemen and teachers should be appreciated.
o For the
first time there is no new funding for valuable
programs.
o Restore
the millionaire’s tax.
* James E. Harris of the
NAACP
o “Don’t
demonize teachers!”
o “Our
governor is giving to the rich and robbing the poor.”
o “I ask our
governor, when our school system is trying to
teach anti-bullying, to stop being the biggest bully in the
state.”
o Public
money should support public schools not private
ones.
o The key
concept is “compromise”.
* Barbara Keshishian (NJEA
President)
o “The
governor denigrates our schools.”
o “The
governor wants to privatize education and public
service.”
o Quoting a
military officer in the Revolution:
“There is a
time to fight and that time has now come.”
o Our
governor wants to destroy our schools and the middle
class workers who built this state.
o “We are
not the problem.”
o NJ is 45th
in state aid to education. “Our
governor must be
held accountable.”
o Our
governor wants shared sacrifice but is the 4th highest
paid governor in the US. He
is giving a tax break to
millionaires.
o “We have
long memories.” (Think November.)
* Charlie Wowkanech
(AFL-CIO President)
o He thanked
those who belong to the CWA, AFT, NJEA,
police, fireman, turnpike workers and nurses who
contribute so much to our state.
o The
governor wants to break the collective bargaining
system.
o “Put money
in the pension system.”
o “We are
not going to take it [social and economic injustice]
* Phyllis Salowe-Kaye (NJ Citizen
Action)
- The banks
and speculators are to blame for the state’s
financial problems not the poor, those
who have disabilities and public workers
- Restore the millionaire’s tax
* Lawrence Hamm (People’s
Organization for Progress)
o He praised
NJ’s diversity as a rainbow coalition.
o State changes are an
“attempt to dismantle 50 years of
social progress and reform.”
o He
characterized the governor’s budget as one “that hurts
our children.”
o He is
“tired of tax breaks for millionaires, banks and
corporations.”
o “If we
have to pay, they have to pay.”
o Why is the
governor blaming the teachers?
o “They came
for the teachers today. They’ll
come for you
tomorrow.”
o “Power to
the People!”