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

“I'm excited to speak to students I don't even know who are working for the same ideals as myself. Its a great feeling of solidarity,” said Cecelia O'Brien, a Florida State University student.

Students hope to build lasting infrastructure, helping new chapters and affiliates to develop across the South, leading up to the SDS National Convention in October. “It's going to be a big semester for activism in Florida and around the country,” said Tallahassee student organizer Andrew Arachikavitz, with a grin on his face.

Organizers will table in the student union, hold a public rally and SDS meet-up and meet with student organizers on the campus throughout the next day.

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

The immediate impact of the Ryan/Republican budget plan would be to stop the expansion of Medicaid (government health care for low-income individuals and families) and block the state insurance exchanges designed to make it easier to buy private health insurance. The CBO estimated last March that these two parts of the “Affordable Care Act” (labeled “Obamacare” by its critics) would reduce the number of people without health insurance by 30 million. By blocking this plan, the Ryan/Republican budget would yank health insurance from 30 million Americans and put even more strain on local communities which are the health care providers to those without health insurance through county hospitals, community clinics and hospital emergency rooms.

The Ryan/Republican budget plan would also convert Medicaid into a “block grant.” Instead of trying the cover the medical costs of those eligible for the program, the federal government would give the states a set amount of money to run their state Medicaid programs, that will slowly increase over time. Under this plan, the federal government will reduce spending on Medicaid by 35% over the next ten years. If all of this spending cut were done by restricting the number of people getting Medicaid, another 10 million people could lose their health insurance. In fact, the number would probably be smaller, because of cuts in benefits making it more difficult to find a doctor who takes Medicaid (many already do not because of the low reimbursement rate, which is only half or less of the amount paid to health care providers under Medicare for the elderly and disabled).

What many people living in the U.S. don’t know is that two thirds of the spending on Medicaid today goes to seniors and disabled people, who would bear much of the cuts in Medicaid spending. Seniors and disabled people would also bear the burden of changes in Medicare proposed by the Ryan/Republican budget plan. While the proposed changes in Medicare would not begin for ten years (in 2022), it would lead to millions of seniors losing their insurance and the rest paying much more to private health care plans.

The first change is that the Ryan/Republican plan would start to raise the age at which one can join Medicare from, 65 to 67 starting in 2022. This would lead to a million seniors aged 65 and 66, who could not afford to pay for private health insurance, to lose their health insurance, and have the rest paying more for their insurance. This would also drive up health insurance costs for businesses that employ older workers and be an even greater incentive not to hire or even try to fire elderly workers.

Even more drastic is that the Ryan/Republican plan would end Medicare as government health insurance and instead give government subsidies for the elderly and disabled to buy private health insurance starting in 2022. But these subsidies are limited to what it would cost the government to provide insurance – which is much less than the private sector, as administrative costs in Medicare are about 2% of total costs, as compared to 20% or more for private health insurance.

What this means is that eventually the elderly would have to pay more than two-thirds of their health care costs under the Ryan/Republican plan, as compared to less than one-third under current Medicare. Thus the Ryan/Republican plan would more than double the health care costs for the elderly and disabled, forcing more and more of them to have to choose between medical costs on one hand, and food, rent and other necessities on the other. Millions could end up giving up health insurance in order to avoid hunger and homelessness.

While poor, elderly and disabled people would bear the cost changes in health care from the Ryan/Republican budget plan, the big winners would be private health insurance companies and the rich. Private health insurance companies would win as seniors and disabled are forced to buy health insurance from them, as Medicare as a government health insurance would no longer be available for them. The rich would also be winners as they could afford to pay for private insurance and their increased costs would be more than offset by the huge tax breaks that the Ryan/Republican plan would offer them.

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

#UnitedStates #Healthcare #RepublicanAgenda #Medicare #RNC2012 #PaulRyanBudgetPlan

Tampa, FL – Standing in front of a wall of TV cameras and reporters, organizers from Coalition to March on the RNC spoke at a press conference here, August 14, giving important updates on the plans for the massive August 27 march that will coincide with the opening day of the Republican National Convention.

Jared Hamil, a spokesperson for the Coalition to March on the Republican National Convention, said “Thousands of people from around the country will be uniting to say no to the Republican and 1% agenda. We are here to promote a true people’s agenda, not an agenda of poverty, hate and war.”

Skye Schmelzer, the Student Coordinator for the Coalition to March on the RNC, stated, “This year the student debt crisis has reached a record high. Students are fed up with being ignored and marginalized by the parties of the 1%. Hundreds of students will march alongside people from all walks of life on August 27, the opening day of the RNC, to demand good jobs, healthcare, affordable education, equality and peace.”

The Coalition to March on the RNC has drawn major support from the labor movement. Fernando Figueroa, the Statewide Coordinator for the Coalition to March on the RNC, said, “Labor Councils and unions are mobilizing from across the state and across the country. On August 27 there will be Central Labor Councils mobilizing from Pensacola, Jacksonville, and Gainesville to protest the RNC. Members of trade unions like the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), the Teamsters and the International Association of Machinists will be marching in the streets alongside students, immigrants and community members to say no to the 1% and both their parties.”

Marisol Marquez with Students Working for Equal Rights in Tampa said, “Today is the beginning of Deferred Action Application submissions for undocumented youth. We know Deferred Action is not the end goal for the undocumented population. So on August 27, Tampa Students Working for Equal Rights along with the Dream Defenders, the Student Farm Worker Alliance and other immigrant rights groups from across the nation will be demanding equality for the undocumented.”

Mick Kelly, one of the main organizers of the massive 2008 RNC protest in Saint Paul, Minnesota also spoke at the press conference. “People from around the country are looking forward to marching on the RNC in Tampa. The Republican Party is waging a war on the working people of this country. We have had enough,” said Kelly.

The August 27 RNC protest will begin with a 10:00 a.m. rally at Perry Harvey Sr. Park, located at 1200 N. Orange Ave in Tampa. After speakers greet the crowd, demonstrators will march to the Tampa Bay Times Forum – the site of the RNC – around noon.

#TampaFL #RepublicanAgenda #RNC2012 #2012RepublicanNationalConvention #CoalitionToMarchOnTheRNC #1 #RepublicanNationalConvention2012

SDS organizers from across the country will be traveling in waves through colleges from Louisiana to Georgia, just as schools come back into session. There they plan to meet with other student organizers and hold demonstrations and meetings to support the national student movement for education rights, to protest the 1% agenda of the Republican and Democratic National Conventions and invite those interested in building SDS chapters to attend the upcoming SDS National Convention.

SDS's Southern Tour is running from August 18 to August 22. Students from as far west as Utah will be visiting colleges in Louisiana and Mississippi. More SDS activists from states such as Wisconsin and Florida will be going through Georgia and Alabama, visiting a dozen schools along their route including, Georgia State, University of Georgia, Emory, Auburn, and the University of Alabama.

Conor Munro, an SDS activist in Gainesville, Florida explains the importance of why students in the South should protest the RNC, “Policies championed by Republican legislators in the South have really hit oppressed nationality and working students hard. The RNC being in Tampa gives the student movement the opportunity to fight back, starting with the March on the RNC August 27.”

SDS has been steadily building for what has turned into being a summer full of major national mobilizations, beginning with the NATO protests in Chicago. There, SDS led hundreds of students in a contingent raising the banner against wars and occupations and demanding more money for schools. Since then, SDSers have been steadily working to ensure a large student presence at both political parties’ conventions, with chapters in Florida leading the work at the RNC and chapters throughout North Carolina making plans for demonstrations at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.

SDS is asking that people sign the pledge to protest the RNC and DNC by going to www.NewSDS.org – this will provide updates about the student contingent as they develop.

SDS has also announced its intention to host their 7th-annual National Convention in Gainesville, Florida at the end of October. SDS encourages any and all students and youth to register for their National Convention by going to their website.

#TampaFL #StudentMovement #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #CoalitionToMarchOnTheRNCAndStopTheWar #RNC2012 #RepublicanNationalConvention2012

San Francisco, CA – While millions of retired Americans are struggling to make ends meet and millions more working people who have been laid off don’t know how or if they can ever afford to retire, laid-off corporate executives are living in another world. Take General Electric Vice-Chairman John Krenicki, who is 50 years old and retiring at the end of 2012 because of GE’s restructuring plans. GE will be paying him $89,000 a month for the next ten years (about a million dollars a year, or $10 million total), after which he can receive GE’s executive pension. In addition, Krenicki is getting stock options and stock valued at almost $15 million, and a bonus of almost $3 million, for a total golden parachute worth almost $28 million. In exchange, Krenicki promised GE that he wouldn’t work for a competitor for three years.

While the right wing demonizes mothers and children who are struggling to make ends meet on $150 per month per person (the average benefit for Temporary Aid to Needy Family or TANF, widely known as welfare), corporate executives are literally being paid millions not to work.

But of course Krenicki is not even the worst offender. Take a look at Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Romney has released one year of tax returns which show that he has $100 million in an IRA (Individual Retirement Account). Now, how he was able to amass $100 million when the yearly limit is $5000 and Romney is 65 years old, we don’t know. We do know that three-quarters of working age adults don’t have an IRA at all and that the typical person with an IRA has only $25,000 in the account, or 1/40 of 1% of what Mitt Romney has.

In addition to his IRA, Romney has another $100 million (or more) in personal wealth and perhaps another $100 million in trust for his children. While his own retirement is more than secure (we would call it lavish), Romney is proposing to cut Social Security, either by limiting inflation protection, by raising the retirement age even more (it is already going up from age 65 to 67), or by replacing Social Security with individual investment accounts. Romney opposes raising the cap on Social Security taxes, which right now doesn’t tax any wages or salary above $110,100, and all investment income is not taxed either!

If you have had enough of the likes of John Krenicki and Mitt Romney getting more while the rest of us get less, join the protest at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida August 27-30. For more information, go to marchonthernc.com.

#SanFranciscoCA #WallStreet #welfare #Capitalism #corporateProfits #RNC2012

Tampa, FL – Across Florida, groups with the Coalition to March on the RNC protested as part of a statewide day of action on July 27. The day marked a one-month countdown to the Republican National Convention (RNC) and the massive unified march and protest happening on Monday, August 27, in Tampa.

Groups across the state and around the country will be coming down to Tampa as part of a broad coalition saying no to the Republican agenda. The Coalition is promoting a people’s agenda demanding, “Good jobs, healthcare, affordable education, equality and peace.” The group is protesting on the opening day of the RNC and demanding that government money be used for human needs, not for corporate greed and wars overseas.

In Tampa, leaders from Students Working for Equal Rights, Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society, Fight Back Florida, members of Teamsters Local 79 and Occupy Tampa gathered at Perry Harvey Sr. Park. This is where the march on the RNC will begin with a rally at 10:00 a.m. on August 27. Organizers waved a huge banner that said, “Be here August 27th to demand: Good jobs, Healthcare, Affordable Education, Equality and Peace.” The Coalition to March on the RNC leaders spoke to the media about the recently granted permits, as well as details of the march and rally. They plan to continue to gather support from the community as the massive protest draws near.

At nearly the same time, Coalition to March on the RNC partners in Tallahassee, the state capitol, protested outside the Florida State Republican headquarters. Despite a sudden heavy thunderstorm, protesters rallied outside of the office. John Saullo of SDS condemned the Republicans, saying, “They attack women’s rights and provide tax cuts to the wealthiest in society, all while eroding the rights of working families and creating destructive environmental policies.”

Later in the day, the Coalition to March on the RNC in Gainesville protested outside of the Bank of America chanting, “Banks got bailed out, we got sold out!” 30 protesters gathered from Gainesville area Students for a Democratic Society, Occupy Gainesville and Veterans for Peace. They rallied outside of the bank where Jeremiah Tattersall said, “Bank of America funds the parties of the 1%. We'll be following their money to Tampa for the RNC, but also to Charlotte for the DNC.” Protesters then marched to a busy intersection, waving signs and chanting.

Around the country groups and people are mobilizing for the Tampa protest against the Republicans and the wealthy 1% who own and control both political parties. The Coalition to March on the RNC plans to protest within sight and sound of the Republican convention. They also support the March on Wall Street South during the Democratic National Convention a few days later.

After the opening rally on Monday morning of August 27, the Coalition will march through the streets of downtown Tampa to “Protest RNC Square” for another rally outside of the Tampa Bay Times Forum to oppose the Republicans and their 1% backers. A united message of struggle and progress, carried by thousands who are part of a growing movement in the streets and work places, will be heard across the country and perhaps the world.

#TampaFL #CoalitionToMarchOnTheRNCStopTheWar #FightBackFlorida #TampaBayStudentsForADemocraticSocietySDS #RNC2012 #CoalitionToMarchOnWallStreetSouth #RepublicanNationalConvention2012

“In 2008, we helped organize a powerful demonstration at the RNC here in Minnesota,” said Tracy Molm of SDS. “This August, Minnesotans will be going to Tampa to send the Republicans a message. We want good jobs, health care, affordable education, equality and peace.”

Linden Gawboy of the Welfare Rights Committee is helping to coordinate the trip to Tampa. “Sign up for the trip to this historic protest. The rich and their bought and paid for politicians are waging a war on poor and working people. The RNC is the place where we are going to fight back.”

The Coalition to March on the RNC is organizing a large demonstration on August 27, the first day of the Republican National Convention.

#MinneapolisMN #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #CoalitionToMarchOnTheRNCStopTheWar #RNC2012 #RepublicanNationalConvention2012

Tampa, Fl – About 50 people from across the country gathered here June 16, on the University of South Florida campus, for the Coalition to March on the Republican National Convention Organizers Conference. There were representatives from more than 30 labor unions, student organizations, anti-war groups and immigrant rights groups from Florida, Minnesota, Illinois and North Carolina, including the Graduate Assistants United at the University of Florida, Students for a Democratic Society, the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, the United National Anti War Coalition, and Students Working for Equal Rights.

The conference focused on reaching out to groups and organizations opposed to the Republican agenda, in order to bring them to Tampa for the march. At the conference, participants discussed the importance of the Coalition’s central demands – Jobs, Health Care, Affordable Education, Peace, and Equality – and ways of accurately conveying their message to the media.

Marisol Marquez and Fernando Figueroa, two of the lead Florida organizers for the Coalition to March on the RNC, facilitated a full schedule of workshops and planning sessions aimed at building for the march on August 27, the first day of the convention.

“The Coalition to March on the RNC is a group effort, in every sense of the word,” said Figueroa. “We’re hosting this conference so all of our coalition partners – workers, students, immigrants, and others – can build for this historic march in August behind a unified message and a cohesive organizing strategy.”

Mick Kelly, an organizer of the massive protest at the 2008 Republican Convention urged an all out national mobilization for the opening day of the RNC. Joe Iosbaker, a key organizer of May’s NATO Summit protest, summed up the key lessons of the Chicago demonstration. Tracy Molm of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression noted that the government would work to derail the planned protest. Angel Buechner, of the Twin Cites based Welfare Rights Committee stated that low-income people would join the Coalition’s march.

In break-out planning sessions, conference participants announced two national days of action to build for the August march in Florida.

On Monday, July 2, the Coalition to March on the RNC will hold a national call-in day to the City of Tampa demanding the right to march within sight and sound of the Convention on August 27. Then, on Friday, July 27, coalition partners will hold demonstrations, pickets and protests outside of local Republican Party headquarters or corporate sponsors of the Convention.

“The city of Tampa insists on restricting our right to protest the agenda of the Republican Party,” said Richard Blake, a member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 385 and organizer with the Coalition to March on the RNC. “These days of action are as much about engaging new coalition partners across the country as they are about fighting these attempts to stifle free speech.”

The organizers’ conference closed with a short press conference on the University of South Florida campus. Energy is high as activists prepare to take these plans back to their communities and prepare for the historic march on the RNC on August 27.

#TampaFL #CoalitionToMarchOnTheRNCStopTheWar #RepublicanAgenda #TampaBayStudentsForADemocraticSocietySDS #RNC2012 #RepublicanNationalConvention2012

Tampa, FL – Organizers for the Coalition to March on the RNC held a press conference today, April 10, outside City Hall in Tampa. Leaders are organizing a national protest on the opening day of the Republican National Convention, to be held in Tampa, Florida on Aug. 27. Protesters will demand jobs, healthcare, education, equality and peace.

Fernando Figueroa, of Gainesville Area Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), spoke about opposing the ‘Clean Zone,’ an ordinance proposed by the Tampa city government that would attempt to keep Coalition to March on the RNC protesters away from the Republican National Convention. The Clean Zone also proposes that a number of items be banned from the march. “They want to talk about things we can't bring to the protest, like string and children's toys. I'm bringing shorts and a t-shirt to the march in August, and I want to talk about some items that really should be banned, like pepper spray and police batons,” Figueroa said.

Jared Hamil of the Coalition to March on the RNC and Fight Back Florida talked about the struggle for a permit in Tampa. “We filed for a permit requesting to march within sight and sound of the convention and we will not be caged or treated like animals.”

Tom Burke from the Committee to Stop FBI Repression spoke about the organizing going on around the country to say no to the Republican agenda. “We are building a national march in Tampa against the Republican agenda. We demand our permits to rally, march and protest where the Republicans can see and hear us.”

Organizers of the press conference also announced a rally for that night at 7:00 p.m. in Joe Chilura Park to demand permits and say no to the Clean Zone.

The call for the protest states, “On Monday, August 27, 2012, the attention of the entire world will be focused on Tampa, Florida. The Republican National Convention brings together some of the worst politicians that this country has to offer. We're calling on all those ready to fight back against the attacks launched by the Republican Party and their corporate masters to take to the streets and demand a better future for our families, our communities and our children.”

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