NY Campaign Finance:

1. Today, over 100 organizations that support Fair Elections for New York wrote Governor Cuomo detailing the need for publicly financed campaigns, lower contribution limits, and better enforcement. The civil rights, business, faith, grassroots community, good government, environmental, and labor organizations who signed the letter, thanked the Governor for his strong support and expressed their enthusiasm to work with him and members of the Legislature to pass publicly financed elections and other campaign finance reforms during this legislative session.

2. Despite the annual $150,000 contribution limit by individuals to candidates in New York, luxury-apartment mogul Leonard Litwin gave almost $700,000 to candidates in 2011. A study by the New York Public Interest Research Group revealed that Litwin was the biggest individual donor in the state. Litwin was able to dodge the state’s campaign finance laws by utilizing the limited liability company (LLC) loophole, which allows companies to contribute multiple times through affiliated LLC’s, even when the LLC is completely controlled by a corporation or individual who has already reached the maximum contribution limit.

3. Governor Cuomo spoke with reporters about the need for public financing and campaign finance reform after participating in a fundraising event for the Democratic Governors Association. “One of the things we have to work on is getting money out of politics,” Cuomo said. In response to a reporter’s question about the meeting, Cuomo replied, “Your issue of, ‘You are in a room where people contribute money’ — that is the current state of politics and that is (the case for) every elected official in every fundraising forum.”

4. Manuel Ortega, law chairman of the Staten Island Democratic Party, filed a complaint with the FEC against Republican Representative Michael Grimm. The complaint alleges excessive and illegal cash contributions. A key fundraiser of Grimm’s is now being investigated for embezzling millions of dollars from a rabbi’s congregation. According to the New York Times story that Ortega used as the basis for his FEC complaint, unnamed followers allege that Grimm sought donations over the legal limit, and that he sought those donations in cash and from undocumented aliens.

5. The Democrat and Chronicle calls for Governor Cuomo to follow through on his election promises for public financing and campaign finance reform. The newspaper notes that “the governor continues to say the right things” and urges him to “prod the Legislature to deliver.”

Other News Nationwide:

1. In his State of the Union address, President Obama spoke about the “corrosive influence of money in politics.” He called for “a bill that bans insider trading by Members of Congress,” places limits on incumbents’ ability to own stocks in industries they impact, and restricts the ability of bundlers to lobby Congress.

2. The New York Times editorializes that under the federal lobbying law, “Newt Gingrich can legitimately claim that he is not a lobbyist.” The paper stated that Gingrich had “made a great deal of money in Washington peddling his influence, while carefully staying about half-an-inch short of the legal definition of lobbyist.” The paper calls for a better law limiting lobbyist activity and promoting disclosure. Part of the problem is that many Members of Congress use the revolving door—more than 400 former members have become lobbyists or consultants in the last decade.

3. In Massachusetts, Senator Scott Brown and likely Democratic opponent Elizabeth Warren agreed on a plan to stop outside groups from running negative ads. The agreement “requires each side to donate to a charity of the other’s choosing” when benefiting from a third-party ad, and also requires each side to write to outside groups and television station managers requesting a cease-fire. Brown, who is up for re-election to a full term, said that third-party ads “spend millions of dollars from anonymous donors portraying their opposition unfairly and misleading voters.” The question now is whether the agreement is enforceable.

4, In Montana, the State Supreme Court upheld by a 5-2 vote a law banning corporations from making political expenditures. A New York Times editorial praised the Montana Supreme Court, stating that “in Citizens United, the conservative majority turned itself into a copper kings’ court.” The majority rejected Justice Kennedy’s “misguided reasoning” that money does not “give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption.” The court’s dissenters, however, argued that the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision dictates the opposite result, and warned that the Supreme Court would not allow Montana to ignore precedent.

The letter, signed by 118 civil rights, business, faith, grassroots community, good government, environmental, and labor organizations, is an indication of the broad support for this critical reform that will stand up against the massive influence of money in our political system.

After Governor Cuomo’s recent State of the State address, a Siena poll showed that 74% of New Yorkers support Fair Elections as a way to foster small donor participation in campaigns.

In the letter, the groups expressed their enthusiasm to work with Governor Cuomo and members of the Legislature to pass publicly financed elections and other campaign finance reforms during this legislative session.

Fair Elections for New York

Click here to read AQE’s report

“When we invest in learning for our youngest children, we’re guaranteeing the best return on investment for our community. Study after study has shown that providing our children with quality Pre-K helps to ensure their future success, getting them ready for kindergarten, college, and careers. As the mother of a child who has attended Pre-K, I’ve seen firsthand the positive impact that these programs have. We call on our elected officials to expand funding for Pre-K, giving our kids the opportunity they need to become the future leaders of New York,” said Citizen Action Board President, Ivette Alfonso, at the Albany press conference.

Take action!

Click here for AQE’s regional data on state aid

Click here for our photo gallery

Press Coverage

Video of Board President Ivette Alfonso

New York should raise needed revenue and restore fairness to the tax code by reforming our state corporate tax structure and closing a variety of corporate tax loopholes to make sure small business and big business play by the same rules, and that higher profits are taxed at reasonably higher rates.

Last year’s effort to make the PIT more progressive and more fair should continue in 2012 by reforming corporate taxes to close loopholes, end costly and ineffective tax subsidies, and fix shortcomings that unnecessarily reduce tax collections and limit resources needed to maintain and invest in the infrastructure, services and educated workforce that foster long-term economic growth.

From the press release:

A recently released report from Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economy Polciy entitled, ‘Tax Dodging in the 50 States,’ found that many highly profitable companies are paying very little in state corporate income taxes throughout the country. The report also shows that many NYS based companies like Travelers, American Express, Verizon, Goldman Sachs and Rupert Murdoch’s news Corporation are paying a lower tax rate than the average New York family of four with an income of $58,000 a year.

A broad ranging coalition of community, labor, faith and Occupy groups have a plan to reform New York’s corporate tax structure that is focused on three main principles: enforcement, fairness, and transparency. The plan includes:

• Requiring real estate partnerships to pay the taxes they owe
• Reforming New York’s Corporate Alternate Minimum Tax
• Taxing nonresident hedge fund management fees
• Eliminating the Carried Interest Exemption under New York City’s Unincorporated Business tax
• Cracking down on schemes that create “nowhere income”
• Requiring public disclosure of corporate tax payments for publicly-traded companies

Click here to see our photo gallery from the event

On Wednesday, January 25th, more than 100 people filled the Buffalo City Hall for yet another meeting on the district’s out-of-school suspension policy. Here’s an update from Brian Trzeciak, an education organier with Citizen Action of New York and the Alliance for Quality Education:

We had a great turnout last night at the Board of Education Meeting.  Not only did we have standing room only again, people filled up the waiting room as well.  There were easily more than 100 people in attendance.

As people walked into the room, they were greeted by a line of students.  Some were in handcuffs and some held books.  Every time a Board member (or anyone, really) walked by, they chanted “Books, not prison!” It was very effective. With all of the speakers who said what they did, to have a young child in handcuffs chanting “Books, not prison!” made the point. A lot of the press started off with that image and that message.

The meeting started off with Assistant Superintendent Will Keresztes describing what he had just given to the BoE as far as proposals from the Suspension Hearings.  They are going to discuss these proposals on February 1st with the BoE, and Jay McCarthy publicly invited Citizen Action and AQE to attend. And that means all of you!

Ina started off very strong by handing the BoE the resolution which we enlarged to about 4 feet tall.  Her message was simple.  Since they ignored the resolution the last time, she blew it up for them so that they couldn’t ignore it this time. It was awesome. And they took it. The Interim Superintendent, Amber Dixon, did acknowledge the resolution at the end.

And speaker after speaker hit home. We chanted during. We kept the message that this was a race issue in the forefront. We had students at the podium talking about their friends with the utmost sincerity and affection. We had other students saying, “I’m not a bad kid, I just need help.” John from Occupy Buffalo played really bad cop and called the Board murderers.  He clarified, as you’ll see in the clips. He stressed that this issue is that serious. Sherry let us know the staggering stat that a Buffalo student gets suspended every three minutes!

Danielle was the last to speak, and we all stood while she did.  She rocked the house and summed up all of what and how we feel about this issue. All in all, if we wanted up the ante and put more pressure on, we did just that.

But all of our speakers, from calling the Board members out, to acknowledging the children and getting their voices heard . . . all of them made the point clear.

Out-of-school suspension for non-violent incidents needs to end now.

After hearing everything, Dixon told us, once again, to wait for change in a response that took less than 3 minutes.

It’s going to happen (we’ll make sure of that), but how long it will take is still up in the air. We need to think about the strategy for the 1st and the next BoE meeting on the 8th. We also have an Education Committee meeting in between there. I will be sending out an email within the next day with a complete schedule of events.

Last, but definitely not least, I want to thank all of you. You have made this movement what it is. You have the power and the voice that they are finally listening to. Thank you, members of Citizen Action and AQE, the board members of Citizen Action and AQE, all of our parents and children, and all of our leaders. We are going to win because of you.

But, for now, we still need to fight.

In solidarity,

Brian

Click here to read the resolution.

Click here for pictures from the meeting.

Click Here for Press Clips

The Verizon Corporation has been identified as one of the country’s worst tax evaders, paying no corporate taxes while having made over $32.5 billion in profits between 2008 and 2010, and receiving a $951 million tax rebate from the federal government.

In fact, they’ve spent more money lobbying than they have paid in taxes. Billions more, actually.

If Verizon CEO Lowell McAdams cheated in a game of poker, he’d forfeit his chips. If he cheated on a spelling test, he’d get an automatic F. If he cheated in a baseball game, he’d lose by default. If he cheated on his significant other, he’d be single. Why, then, is Verizon permitted by law to what amounts to cheating on their taxes?

A government should represent the people. Instead, our government represents a super-wealthy minority with the financial means to control an entire nation’s political process. We can thank our current campaign finance system for bloated corporations like Verizon (remember when they tried to force those concessions on their employees?), and the wealth disparity they have created.

Corporations like Verizon lobby for tax loopholes that let them dodge their taxes. This leaves them with mountains of extra cash, which they use to buy candidates. Because of our current political climate, candidates can’t afford not to sell their campaigns to corporations. Verizon CEO Lowell C. McAdam knows very well that if a politician hopes to compete in an election, they have to accept his massive donation. That candidate effectively becomes Lowell’s lap dog, cementing loopholes that allow massive corporations to continue evading taxes.

Public financing of elections would work to fix this. A candidate in a publicly financed election would not have to bow to pressure from big donors. Lower contribution limits and better enforcement would take big money’s influence out of politics.

To quote President Obama’s State of the Union, we “can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well, while a growing number of Americans barely get by — or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules.”

Until we take the money out of politics, corporations like Verizon will continue to enjoy sweetheart deals and tax loopholes, while the gap between rich and poor continues to grow.

Sign our petition that we made today, urging Verizon to pay their fair share of taxes.

The show begins at 2pm on January 26th. Click here to listen to the show!

This court decision fundamentally changed America’s electoral process and tilted the playing field for any firm doing business in the US.

Ms. Revesz will be interviewing:

• Harvard Law Professor John Coates to show how political spending impacts shareholder wealth
• The Center for Political Accountability’s Bruce Freed, who convinces firms to commit to transparency and accountability in political spending.
• Jeff Merritt, who will show how public pension fund trustees like the NYC Public Advocate are all protecting shareholders.

Ms. Revesz will also discuss ways shareholders or mutual fund owners can help make companies they’ve invested in more transparent and accountable in their political spending.

Whether your firm makes campaign contributions, your competitors do, or you’re directly affected by campaign contributions, you don’t want to miss this week’s show.

The show begins at 2pm on January 26th.  Click here to listen to the show!

Can’t listen then? Don’t worry. It will be archived here, where you can listen at your own convenience.

Your work isn’t done yet, though. We need as many people to contact our president as possible, and that’s where you come in.

Please tell five of your friends to also contact President Obama. We’ve taken the liberty of making a sample message to send them. Simply copy and paste the text below into an email to your friends.

Friend,

I just wrote President Obama to thank him for appointing AG Schneiderman to investigate the housing crisis. Could you take 30 seconds out of your day and click here now to also do the same?

Thanks,

(Your Name)

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