Minneapolis, MN – Women Against Military Madness (WAMM) gathered a crowd on Oct. 10 to protest a speech by former President Bill Clinton and his support for U.S. wars and military attacks in the Middle East. Protesters chanted, “No justice, no peace, U.S. out of the Middle East!”

The groups were also challenged Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton and Senator Franken for their pro-war and pro-Israel stances. Chants at the rally called for Dayton, Franken, and Clinton to sever their ties with Israel and to stop promoting U.S. wars and occupations.

Coleen Rowley of WAMM highlighted the fact that the U.S. entered its 13th continuous year of war in the Middle East. U.S. intervention in Iraq reaches back to 1990 and the first Gulf War under President George H. W. Bush. Then President Clinton pursued economic sanctions that killed over 500,000 thousands Iraqi children, according to the United Nations. Clinton also imposed a no-fly zone and militarily attacked Iraq. The U.S. is now again at war in Syria and Iraq.

Rowley continued, “We have wars abroad, a war on drugs, a war on terror and a war on activists. But what we really need, if anything, is a war on the insane kind of thinking that allows policies like this to continue.”

Members of Students for a Democratic Society, in Minneapolis for their ninth National Convention, joined the protest against former President Clinton and Governor Dayton. Students at the rally chanted, “Money for jobs and education, not for war and occupation!”

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #WomenAgainstMilitaryMadness #StudentsForADemocraticSocietyUOfMN #MarkDayton #BillClinton

St Paul, MN – Minnesota’s Governor Mark Dayton got an earful from members of the Welfare Rights Committee, Feb. 6, when he entered the House chambers in the Capitol building to deliver his State of the State address.

Members of the Welfare Rights Committee (WRC) told Dayton that this is the year to raise the grants for people on public assistance. Dayton did not include a grant increase in his budget proposal. The grants have not gone up since 1986.

The WRC legislation to double the welfare grants will be introduced this week.

#StPaulMinnesota #StPaulMN #PoorPeoplesMovements #MarkDayton #MinnesotaWelfareRightsCommittee