The Coalition to March on the RNC, with an impressive list of endorsers demanding, “Good jobs, affordable education, health care, equality and peace,” led the largest of several events protesting the Republicans and their right-wing agenda of hate and war. The Freedom Road Socialist Organization played an active role in the Coalition to March on the RNC in 2012, just as it did in 2008 when protesters marched on the RNC in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

We are well aware that police intelligence operations began soon after we announced our plans to march on the Republicans the year before the RNC.

We also know the dedicated and hard-working activists who led the meetings, press conferences, planning sessions and the big march itself. While we are open and democratic with many people participating, the leadership of the Coalition to March on the RNC consisted of a close-knit group of young friends. They went to college together and knew each other since before they were even interested in politics. While many activists came forward and played important roles in organizing against the Republicans, we are confident in our leadership and clear about the empty boasting by the police.

The leaders of the Coalition to March on the RNC made plans that were both politically and tactically sound, and successfully carried them out even when the state tried to impose a ‘clean zone’ around the RNC itself. The march was a big success and saw virtually no deviation from the plan. We captured the political spotlight that day, despite hurricane rains that caused the Republicans to cancel their opening day. The media covered our march with its people’s demands instead of Mitt Romney’s right-wing agenda of the 1%.

However, this does not prove that the police or other law enforcement agencies did not send spies and provocateurs into organizations mobilizing against the RNC that year – in fact, we know that the enemy has infiltrated the movement before and certainly conducted surveillance of social justice organizers in 2012. No one who loves peace and justice is unaware of the heavy amount of surveillance and repression of activists and community organizers carried out on a daily basis by the state and its agents. What is important is to take a stand against disruption and repression, and for activists to look out for each other and show solidarity with those under attack.

The repression of those who fight for peace and justice is part of the long history of state repression that organizers and revolutionaries, often anarchists and communists, face. This account serves as a backdrop for important conclusions to be drawn about the nature of state repression today and the enemy's spying on the 2012 RNC protests in Tampa, Florida.

The police and law enforcement agencies hate activists and organizers who fight for a better world and will do anything to suppress them or stop them from achieving their goals. This fact was well known to those who organized in Tampa in 2012, and to other forces in movements like Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter.

It is certain that the police sent spies to meetings, marches and rallies – with the purpose to disrupt, divide and destroy an open, democratic and progressive march and other protest events against the Republicans. It is even likely that some of the police spies stuck around after the march was over in Tampa, as was the case with police spy “Karen Sullivan” in Minneapolis-Saint Paul in 2008. If so, then they have failed to meet their objectives and instead have witnessed a growing people's movement in Florida and the rest of the country that is resistant to provocateurs, sabotage, co-option and wrecking by the enemies of the people.

The Coalition to March on the RNC's event was a huge success despite Tropical Storm Isaac soaking Tampa on the day of the big march. That day, veteran activists along with new organizers dealt a blow to the 1%, the imperialist class in the U.S. Just as police spies and all the forces of nature could not impede the march on the RNC in Tampa, so too will the oppressed and the working class ultimately emerge victorious against capitalism.

#UnitedStates #Editorials #FreedomRoadSocialistOrganization #2012RepublicanNationalConvention #CoalitionToMarchOnTheRNC #RepublicanNationalConvention2012 #PoliticalRepression

Tampa, FL – Over 1000 people rallied and marched in the streets of Tampa, August 27, to demand good jobs, affordable education, healthcare, equality and peace. Although the Republicans canceled the first day of their convention due to Tropical Storm Isaac, organizers with the Coalition to March on the RNC went through with their promise to march to the site of the convention to show their opposition to the agenda of the 1%.

The rally began at Perry Harvey Sr. Park at 10:00 a.m. with speakers, followed by a march through the streets of Tampa.

Notable speakers included Carlos Montes, a leading immigrant rights leader; Joe Iosbaker, an anti-war leader; Skye Schmelzer, representative of the National Students for a Democratic Society; and Medea Benjamin, a co-founder of Code Pink.

Organizations present included Students for a Democratic Society, Veterans for Peace, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, five Florida Occupy chapters, six Fight Back Florida chapters, Dream Defenders, United National Antiwar Coalition, the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, International Action Center, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Code Pink, four Florida AFL-CIO labor councils, and Region 3 of AFSCME Council 79.

Organizer Fernando Figueroa stated, “Today we took a stand with more than 1000 people against the Republicans and their agenda of hatred, poverty and war. Today we stand up for all the good things people need and to strike a blow against those who deprive us that.”

#TampaFL #RNC2012 #CoalitionToMarchOnTheRNC #1 #RepublicanNationalConvention2012

Tampa, FL – Members of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) from the Eastern and Western wings of the Southern Tour met up in Tampa, Florida after completing their tour of campuses in Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, and Georgia.

Along the tour route, organizers met with dozens of activist students, gathered hundreds of phone numbers and emails, built interest in SDS chapters and affiliates, and took interviews by student newspapers and radio stations. Thousands of fliers were distributed for the protest of the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Tampa on Monday, as well as the upcoming SDS National Convention in Gainesville, October 26-29.

“We learned a lot of great lessons from this trip, and feel confident we’ll be building one of the strongest student meet-ups of the year at SDS’s National Convention,” said SDS organizer Cecelia O’Brien, from Tallahassee, Florida.

Now gathered with others from the Coalition to March on the RNC, the SDS organizers from around the country are spreading out throughout the city of Tampa to build for the march on the RNC. The protest will start at 10am, August 27, in Nelson Harvey, Sr. Park.

The National Weather Service has reported potential strong weather conditions. When asked about the upcoming weather concerns, SDS organizer Josh West from Salt Lake City, Utah said, “SDSers are going all out to protest regardless of the weather. Republicans and the 1% may be afraid to meet indoors during a rain storm, but those who fight for change will be out in the streets.”

#TampaFL #StudentMovement #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #RepublicanAgenda #RNC2012 #RepublicanNationalConvention2012

Jared Hamil, a lead organizer, stated, “We are going to march rain or shine.”

#TampaFL #RNC2012 #CoalitionToMarchOnTheRNC #RepublicanNationalConvention2012

Today, August 25, has seen student and labor activists hitting the streets of Tampa, including the major intersections surrounding Perry Harvey, Sr. Park – the site of the march on the RNC, to display the lead banner for the march, and to reach out to the surrounding communities. Motorists passing by honked their horns in a show of solidarity with the five demands set forth by the Coalition to March on the RNC: Good jobs, healthcare, affordable education, equality and peace.

“Reaching out to the working class neighborhoods felt really empowering, especially with the massive amount of support we saw from the community,” Michael Sampson, a student organizer from Florida State University in Tallahassee said. Thousands of fliers were passed out through the surrounding neighborhoods, which were happily received by the people who lived there, and many of whom committed to attending the protest on Monday.

“The people were happy to see us, were glad to receive fliers through their car windows, and plan to join us at our rally and march on Monday. Most people gave us the thumbs up, while people in luxury cars shook their heads at us. The level of excitement in Tampa continues to grow,” said Tom Burke, a national organizer with the Coalition to March on the RNC.

#TampaFL #RNC2012 #CoalitionToMarchOnTheRNC #Florida #RepublicanNationalConvention2012

Tampa, FL – Members of the Student Labor Action Project will be among the many campus activists who join the massive march that will coincide with the August 27 opening of the Republican National Convention.

Two members of the Student Labor Action Project spoke with Fight Back! about why they were joining the march on the RNC.

Tyler Wright states, “The Student Labor Action Project at UCF [University of Central Florida] stands with the working class to fight back against the hate-filled Republican agenda. We are working to build a new platform in which healthcare and education are no longer privileges for the wealthy few, where families are not torn apart by racist immigration laws and where workers are treated with dignity and respect in their workplaces. The Coalition to March on the RNC is an avenue for the 99% of people who are not represented in our country to finally have their voices heard. Despite our differences, students, workers, community groups, the unemployed, immigrants and many others are coming together to oppose the despicable direction the GOP desires to take us in.”

Shannon McEnteer stated, “The Student Labor Action Project strongly believes that education is a right, not a privilege. We have joined the Coalition to March on the RNC because the Republican agenda works directly against the interest of students, especially working class students. As young people dealing with absurd amounts of debt and unemployment, we have an obligation to stand up to the Republican agenda and fight back.”

#TampaFL #RepublicanAgenda #RNC2012 #RepublicanNationalConvention2012 #StudentLaborActionProject

Tampa, FL – Joe Iosbaker, a spokesperson for the largest anti-war coalition in the U.S., the United National Antiwar Coalition, spoke at a press conference here, August 24, stating that the peace movement will be joining the mass march on the Republican National Convention. “The Republicans have never met a war they didn’t like,” said Iosbaker. “They support all the wars the U.S. government is waging right now. We are going to march on the RNC and say no to the wars being waged on behalf of the 1%.”

Jared Hamil, a spokesperson for the Coalition to March on the RNC, talked about plans to deal with Tropical Storm Isaac, and stressed that the march on the RNC will take place rain or shine.

Marisol Marquez of Students Working for Equal Rights stated, “Racist hate laws like Arizona’s SB1070 are a direct reflection of how the parties of the 1% are not serving for the people. The ‘legitimate rape’ comments from the Republicans just days ago, were so obviously anti-me, anti-women’s groups that make up our Coalition, like Code Pink and Pinellas Now, and generally anti-women. The parties of the 1% will stop at nothing unless we do something to oppose their oppressiveness. So on Monday, August 27, at 10:00 a.m. I will be joining the Coalition to March on The RNC to say no to their hateful agenda as well as to demand good jobs, healthcare, affordable education, equality and peace.”

#TampaFL #AntiwarMovement #RNC2012 #UnitedNationalAntiwarCoalition #CoalitionToMarchOnTheRNC #RepublicanNationalConvention2012

As part of the Affordable Care Act, $716 billion was cut from Medicare spending (not funding). A big chunk of this cut was reducing spending on the Medicare Advantage program, a failed privatization plan. Medicare Advantage turned over a part of Medicare to private health insurance companies. But instead of costing less, it has always cost more than the government Medicare program to provide the same benefits. This is a no-brainer since the private, for-profit insurance companies have to pay dividends and huge executive salaries that Medicare does not. This is why 98% of Medicare spending goes to health care, while private insurance companies have spent only 80% or even less, with the rest going to shareholders, executives and waste. The Affordable Care Act tries to reign in this spending.

Medicare is paid for by the same payroll tax as Social Security, listed as FICA (Federal Insurance Contribution Act) on your paycheck. By increasing spending, the Romney plan would speed up the date where funding for Medicare runs short of projected costs, from 2024 to 2016. So why would Romney want Medicare’s financial problems to come sooner rather than later? Probably in order to push a scheme to privatize Medicare, turning it over to private insurance companies and doubling the cost to seniors.

This increase in spending would also lead to higher costs for seniors. Researchers estimate that the average senior on Medicare would pay almost $350 a year more in out-of-pocket costs to help pay for Romney’s proposed spending increase.

Fight Back! encourages all of our readers to say no to Romney’s plan, the Republican agenda and the 1% by joining the massive August 27 protest at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida.

#UnitedStates #CapitalismAndEconomy #RepublicanAgenda #Medicare #RNC2012 #MittRomney #1 #RepublicanNationalConvention2012

Minnetonka Beach, MN – On August 23, members of the Welfare Rights Committee (WRC) and others protested outside a fundraiser for presidential candidate Mitt Romney. In two days, WRC members will load up in a van for a drive to Tampa, Florida for the protest at the Republican National Convention, which takes place on Monday, August 27.

Romney’s rich friends paid $2,500 per person just to see him for a few hours. Some lucky people with $50,000 lying around had a private dinner with him. Outside the gates of the country club, WRC and a grouping of the 99% rallied and chanted, “Hey Romney, here’s the fix. Stop poor bashing! Tax the rich.”

The WRC’s Kim DeFranco said, “Families are still struggling during this continued economic crisis. The crisis might be over for the 1% but the 99% are still living on the edge between survival and total disaster. Romney continues to spread the lies on why we have to rely on public assistance. His comment about ‘putting work back in welfare,’ shows that he is out of touch with the reality that there simply are not enough jobs for everyone who needs one. It is clear that he will pander to the elite rich class in order to become president.”

A statement from WRC reads, “We are here to tell Romney and the 1% to bring our families out of poverty now. We don't need to be put in an endless hole of no jobs, no unemployment, no healthcare and no hope for us and our children ever escaping poverty.”

Several members of the Welfare Rights Committee will soon be climbing into a van for a 25-hour drive to Tampa, Florida, to participate in the protest against the RNC, which is happening August 27. The protest will begin at 10:00 a.m., at Perry Harvey Sr. Park, 1200 N. Orange Ave in Tampa.

The WRC’s Linden Gawboy says, “I am psyched to protest these crazy republicans in Tampa. We watched the cars drive into the county club today. Almost every one of them costs more than a house should cost. Meanwhile, people around the country are jobless and homeless. All of these politicians pretend that they’re clueless about what so many of us are going through. But they know, because they are getting rich off it. Tampa is where we can make our message heard loud and clear.”

#MinnetonkaBeachMN #WelfareRightsCommittee #PeoplesStruggles #RepublicanAgenda #RNC2012 #MittRomney #RepublicanNationalConvention2012

New SDS chapters in the process of forming already have the enthusiastic support of some local unions, sympathetic campus staff and community based social justice organizations.

Students interested in building campaigns to defend education rights, fight racism on campus and to work closely with campus workers to support union drives will meet in SDS meetings on their respective campuses this week.

Building new SDS chapters in Mississippi and Louisiana will tie together a huge network of chapters across the South, anchored by a strong base of five existing SDS chapters in Florida.

#NewOrleansLA #StudentMovement #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #SDS #RNC2012 #2012RepublicanNationalConvention #RepublicanNationalConvention2012

Jared Hamil, spokesperson for the Coalition, announced several speakers who will greet the August 27 protest. They will include Carlos Montes, a prominent immigrant rights and anti-war leader from Los Angeles and James Lingley, Vice President of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1205. He also announced that Region 3 of AFSCME Council 79, representing 17 different local chapters, has also endorsed the Coalition to March on the RNC. Organizers are looking forward to the massive demonstration set for next week.

“Even until the final days before the event, we will continue to unite all groups and individuals that oppose the agenda of the Republicans and 1% and support a people’s agenda of good jobs, healthcare, affordable education, equality and peace,” said Hamil.

The recent endorsement by Get Equal, an LGBTQ rights group, was announced by Felipe Sousa-Rodriguez, who is the national field director of that organization. He also blasted the Republican Party for their attacks on the rights of LGBTQ and undocumented people.

The struggle for equality was also supported by Marisol Marquez in a prepared statement:

“On August 27, the parties of the 1% will continue to try oppressing immigrants and those who are LGBTQ. We will be there full-force to say no to their continued efforts to oppress us.” Marquez is a member of Students Working for Equal Rights at the University of South Florida.

The possibility of Tropical Depression Isaac entering the Gulf of Mexico and escalating to a larger storm caused questions from reporters. “We will be here on Monday morning to oppose the Republican Agenda, rain or shine,” said Mick Kelly of the Coalition to March on the RNC.

#TampaFL #immigrantRights #LGBTQRights #RepublicanAgenda #RNC2012 #CoalitionToMarchOnTheRNC #RepublicanNationalConvention2012

Michael Sampson, a Florida State University student, felt that it was “an astonishing experience to meet so many young new activists ready to flourish at University of Georgia-Athens. At this rate of growth, the student movement in the U.S. is heading for an upsurge.”

The student activists relayed experiences with the Western portion of the Southern Tour. A carload of activists from Utah, New Orleans, Milwaukee, and other cities are participating in the tour. Both portions of the tour were excited to communicate similar experiences to each other so far.

The Eastern contingent continues on to Atlanta tomorrow to visit with organizers at Georgia State University. The group has plans to give an interview with the college radio station, Album 88. Updates can be expected continuously throughout the tour.

#AthensGA #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #RNC2012 #RepublicanNationalConvention2012 #StudentsForADemocraticSocietySouthernTour