Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Twin Cities based Welfare Rights Committee.

“Pawlenty thought he was a king. Now he is just pathetic.”

Fight Back! interviewed Linden Gawboy, a leader of the Welfare Rights Committee and the Minnesota Coalition for a People’s Bailout on the implications of the May 5 Minnesota Supreme Court decision limiting Governor Pawlenty’s power of unallotment. Gawboy has been involved with fighting for low-income people at the Minnesota state legislature for over 15 years.

St. Paul, MN – Protesters assembled in the rotunda of the Minnesota state capitol here on April 15 for a rally to demand that the state government not “balance the state budget on the backs of working and low-income people.” The rally called on politicians to instead, “tax the rich.”

Minneapolis, MN – We have a social safety net that is nearly gone, and the politicians are stealing the last crumbs from the tables of our state's poorest families. Not only do they ignore our kids when they cut the budget, they try to hide the fact that children make up the majority of impoverished people in this country.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Welfare Rights Committee on the corporate media coverage that followed their March 23 die-in if front of the office of Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty. Some of the critical coverage focused on the participation of students from Southside Family School in Minneapolis.

‘These cuts would kill’

St. Paul, MN – Tombstones and bodies filled the halls outside the Governor’s office here, March 23, as participants in a ‘die-in’ demonstrated against the effects of Governor Pawlenty’s proposed cuts in health and human services. Members of the Welfare Rights Committee and the Minnesota Coalition for a Peoples Bailout, along with other social justice groups, joined the protest.

St. Paul, MN – About 100 people gathered here Feb. 4 on the steps of the Minnesota State Capitol for a protest that coincided with the opening of the Minnesota State Legislature. The Minnesota Coalition for a People’s Bailout organized the protest. Standing at the top of a giant banner reading, “Tax the rich, no cuts to poor and working people,” Angel Buechner of the Welfare Rights Committee led the chant, “Hey politicians, here’s the fix – tax the rich! Tax the rich!”

Birmingham, AL – On Jan. 18, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, dozens of people gathered here to participate in the Solidarity March with the Birmingham Homeless Coalition and Birmingham Peace Project. Under the banner of, Breaking the Silence: Perpetual War=Perpetual Poverty, protesters spoke out against the war and for affordable housing and fair wages. Marchers began in Linn Park downtown and continued on to the Greater Birmingham Ministry. There, several speakers took the stage, including Rodney Cole, videographer of police harassment and violence towards the homeless; Sarah White, union organizer and human rights activist and Rosa Clemente, community organizer, hip hop activist and former Green Party vice-presidential candidate.

St. Paul, MN – Governor 'Scrooge Pawlenty' was by visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future at his mansion here on Dec. 22. Said the ghost of Christmas future, “The people of Minnesota will continue to haunt you. They will expose your miserable actions if you continue to push your greedy, poor-bashing agenda. They will warn voters to block your ambitions if you try to spread your lies in a pathetic run for the presidency.”

Picket demands “Tax the rich”

St. Paul, MN – Members of the Welfare Rights Committee and the Minnesota Coalition for a People’s Bailout gathered in the state capitol building, Dec. 2, outside the room where Minnesota Management and Budget department heads presented the ‘November Forecast,’ projecting a $1.2 billion deficit.

In the midst of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, leaders and organizers across the country are gearing up for the “They Say Cut Back, We Say Fight Back!” national conference planned for Oct. 3 in Chicago, Illinois. From California to New York, people who for the past years have been fighting back against cuts to programs that serve our communities, against home foreclosures and evictions and against plant closures will come together to share experiences and make plans to work together in the coming years.

Chicago, IL – Huvo otra ronda en la batalla para desplazar a la gente trabajador del barrio mejicano Pilsen de Chicago. La batalla esta vez fue sobre la junta en City Hall para proponer la implementación de una zona TIF en Pilsen. Los activistas locales habian demandado que los testimonios se realizan con la ayuda de interpretes, que las juntas se anuncien con más tiempo de anticipación y que halla suficiente tiempo para aue todos hablen. Con estas demandas la comunidad va aganar puesto. Los auspiciadores de los TIFs dicen que el TIF sirve para mejorar las casas y aumentar la cantidad de trabajos bien pagados.

Chicago, IL – “¡No debemos tener que vivir así!” fue el grito en la reunión pública del 29 de Noviember en donde la Asociación de Inquilinos de Kimbark presionó al Departamento de Alojamiento y Desarrollo Urbano (HUD) a que respondiera a sus demandas. Un año de mucha lucha por los inquilinos de unos edificios subvencionados en el barrio Woodlawn en el lado sur de Chicago precede el evento. Hace un año la gerencia atentó forzarles a ser desplazados para una conversión a condominios. Ahora los inquilinos están forzando a la gerencia a mejorar su conducta y respetar sus derechos.

Les damos una bienvenida de parte de Freedom Road Socialist Organization a todas y todos los que han venido de cerca y desde lejos para protestar en contra de la guerra en Irak, protestar la agenda republicana, y avanzar las demandas de paz, justicia e igualdad el 1 de septiembre en San Pablo, Minnesota. Como ustedes, nosotros estamos en contra de cuatro años más de ocupación, guerra, represión y racismo.

Make no mistake about it: the Bush administration is waging a war at home and abroad. While bombs rain down on Afghanistan, destroying homes, hospitals and mosques, the White House is presiding over an assault on the rights and on the standard of living of working and oppressed peoples at home.

Minneapolis, MN – More than fifty poor and working people came together to celebrate May Day, international workers day, May 6. The event, organized by Freedom Road Socialist Organization stressed the victories won by the peoples struggle in the past year, the fights that lie ahead, and the need for unity between employed and unemployed workers. Half the people attending the event were from the low income community and engaged the fight against welfare cuts.

Mientras los medios capitalistas halagan a Ronald Reagan por haber “restaurado la confianza a América,” milones de estadounidenses y milones más en el resto del mundo han sido forzados  a enfrentar la pobreza y guerra como resultado de las políticas de Reagan.

While the corporate-controlled media is singing praises of Ronald Reagan for “restoring confidence to America,” millions of Americans and millions more around the world have been forced into poverty and war as a result of his policies.