Thursday, April 12, 2012

PEACE ECONOMY--FAIR TAXES

Not everyone in Missouri is brain dead.  It is, after all, a border state!

Hello friends,
 
We're getting into the thick of one of the busiest months of the year here at Peaceworks. Really looking for your engaged participation. Please read on and let us know if you'd like to plug in to any of these efforts.
 
THIS POST INCLUDES:
 
1)  Won't You Join Us for Tax Day Activism, Tuesday, April 17
    a)  Don't Miss the Noon-hour Speakout.
    b)  Take a Shift and Help with Leafleting.
    c)  Help Deliver our Tax Day Message in Advance to Our Senators, Friday, April 13.
    d)  Some Excellent Background Info on Taxes.
 
2)  Earth Day Reminders--Come Out for the Home Planet, Sunday, April 22.
    a)  Volunteer.
    b)  Help Spread the Word.
 
3)  People's History Electoral Discussion, Thursday, April 12.
 
4)  Preview: Edible Columbia, Sunday, May 6. Save the Date.
 
5)  Peace Nook News.
 
6)  Other Events:
    a)  Trifecta Resista, April 13-15.
    b)  Centro Latino Veggie Month Dinners & Movies.
    c)  Stop Traffic Conference, Saturday, April 14.
 
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PEACE ECONOMY--FAIR TAXES--SPEAKOUT FOR WHAT'S RIGHT, TUESDAY, APRIL 17.
 
While many on the Right just don't like taxation in general. We in the progressive camp realize that there are many good and important things that couldn't or wouldn't happen without them. We're talking education, parks, environmental protection, public safety, libraries, the social safety net, food safety, transportation and so much more. Our gripes aren't with taxes, but with the lack of fairness in the tax code--those who can most afford it are not paying their fair share--and how they're spent, particularly the massively bloated military budget and the various forms of corporate welfare. Tax Day, this year Tuesday, April 17, offers an excellent opportunity to make our concerns visible. We invite you to come out and be part of this.
 
TAX DAY SPEAKOUT & RALLY: 
 
This Tax Day, Tuesday, April 17, Peaceworks Invites You to Join in Our Call:
 
•  Say “No!” to austerity. We need to invest in people & infrastructure.
 
•  End the wars and cut the bloated Pentagon budget.
 
•  Enact progressive taxes so that those who can afford it pay their fair share.
 
•  Build a Peace Economy that is prosperous, just and sustainable.
 
Join us for a Rally and Speakout from noon to 1 p.m. on the sidewalk outside the Columbia Post Office (Walnut St., between 5th & 6th).
 
Join in making a public statement calling for adequate taxes, based upon ability to pay, not austerity. Say "No!" to cuts needed programs. So called "austerity" costs jobs, harms the environment, deprives those in need of basics like education, nutrition, health care, etc., and generally hurts the economy, with the brunt being felt most profoundly by the working poor, the jobless, the elderly, children, etc.
 
HELP NEEDED LEAFLETING THROUGHOUT THE DAY:  In addition to the midday rally, we will be leafleting from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. We are looking for folks who can help with this for a couple of hours, especially during the workday. If you can help, please get in touch with us ASAP. You can call us at 573-875-0539 and ask for Mark. Or you can e-mail us and let us know what times are workable for you, how long you can help for, and what your preferred time is. Also, if you e-mail, please include your phone number so we can get back with you.
 
JOIN US THIS FRIDAY IN URGING SEN. McCASKILL & SEN. BLUNT TO SUPPORT FAIR, PROGRESSIVE TAXES:   A delegation of Peaceworks members and supporters will be visiting our two U.S. senators' offices over the noon hour this Friday, April 13. We will be discussing the need for making our tax code more progressive. This includes a financial transaction tax, raising rates on those in higher income brackets, eliminating tax havens, treating unearned income as income and making sure that corporations pay their fair share. We invite you to join us in delivering a message that austerity and redistribution upward is no solution. In fact, it is a prescription for prolonged economic distress.
 
We invite you to join us at noon at the Wabash Station on north 10th St. We will then visit Sen. McCaskill's office and then Sen. Blunt's. All are welcome to join in this group visit. If you can't make it, but would like to send a message, please visit their contact pages, which can be accessed via:  http://blog.midmopeaceworks.org/p/resources.html

SOME EXCELLENT TAX INFO SOURCES:  For access to informed analysis of our tax options, check out:
 
The House Progressive Caucus has put together an alternative budget with tons of great proposals. It's at: http://cpc.grijalva.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=81&sectiontree=5,81
 
National Priorities Project offers an excellent side-by-side comparison of the Paul Ryan budget, President Obama's budget, and the Progressive Caucus' budget at http://nationalpriorities.org/en/analysis/2012/competing-visions/
 
The Institute for Policy Studies has put together an excellent report, America is Not Broke that contains excellent tax proposals. It's at: http://www.ips-dc.org/files/3919/america-is-not-broke.pdf
 
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EARTH DAY IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER. PLAN TO JOIN US SUNDAY, APRIL 22. VOLUNTEER, IF YOU CAN:
 
Earth Day, the holiday dedicated to the creation of a sustainable future for our home world, is right around the corner. We are looking forward to a great Festival, with a vibrant Street Fair, engaged sustainability education on Eco Ave., fun for the young ones in the Kids' Park, a stage showcasing local music, dance and spoken word talent, and much more. You can learn details at www.columbiaearthday.org.  Today, we are asking for two types of help.
 
VOLUNTEER AT EARTH DAY:  Peaceworks is looking for volunteers to staff our Peaceworks, Peace Nook, Center for Sustainable Living, Missourians for Safe Energy and Blue Planet booths. Lots of booths, lots of volunteers needed. If you can spare a couple of hours, please contact us ASAP. You can call us at 573-875-0539 and ask for Mark. Or you can e-mail us and let us know what times are workable for you, how long you can help for, and what your preferred time is. Also, if you e-mail, please include your phone number so we can get back with you.
 
The Earth Day Coalition is also looking for volunteers, particularly to deal with clean up. Again, give us a shout if you'd like to help with this.
 
HELP US WITH PUBLICITY. EACH ONE, REACH ONE: This is all about community. Earth Day isn't some passive spectator event, it's something we collaboratively put together as a community.

If you are on Facebook, we encourage you to respond attending to our event at http://www.facebook.com/events/318049238262869/ and then INVITE YOUR FRIENDS! Just go to the little box on the upper right that says "Invite Friends," click on it, and pick friends who are here in mid-Missouri, who haven't yet been invited, and click on them. Easy as pie. You can invite up to 50 people at a time. And you can keep coming back to invite more. As we said, EACH ONE, REACH ONE, or, if you like REACH OUT TO 100! Thanks for your participation.    
 
We also encourage you to share flyers and/or handouts for the 2012 Columbia Area Earth Day Festival. You can download either or both at http://columbiaearthday.org/flyers. You can also help make others aware of Earth Day and the Columbia Area Earth Day Festival by announcing this at any gatherings you participate in over the next 11 days, be this at work, at school, at your house of worship, at social gatherings, etc. We're encouraging you to take some ownership of the Earth Day Festival.
 
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PEOPLE'S HISTORY DISCUSSION THIRD PARTIES & THE U.S. ELECTORAL SYSTEM:
 
All are invited to attend the next People's History Presentation & Discussion to be held 7-9 p.m., Thursday, April 12th, at the Peace Nook.
 
Topic:  Although many third party movements have emerged throughout American history, their impact has been limited.  What is it about the United States' system of election/selection that has seemingly cemented the two party system? What can be done to rectify this deficiency in democracy?  Join us on April 12th, for Part Two, in which we will talk about some proposed fixes for the structural deficiencies in the American system of election, and the successes and failures of third party movements of the 20th century, and beyond.    

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SAVE THE DATE--EDIBLE COLUMBIA TOUR, SUNDAY, MAY 6:
 
Peaceworks Center for Sustainable Living is organizing Edible Columbia, a Sustainable Garden Tour and Dinner to be held starting at 2 p.m., Sunday, May 6. We urge you to save the date and plan to join us for this fun event.
 
Tour participants will see and learn about a working urban farm, edible landscaping, herb gardens, a rain garden, community gardens,  raised beds, and a large and extensive backyard garden with chickens.
The final stop at 5 p.m. takes us to Centro Latino’s Comedor Popular for a local/organic/vegan meal after the tour. Advance tickets required and are available at the Peace Nook. More details forthcoming.
 
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PEACE NOOK NEWS:
 
WHAT'S NEW?  The Peace Nook is in the swing of spring. All the gloves and winter clothes have been stashed away for next year and we have spring and summer clothes on the fair trade clothes racks. Our front door is propped open and we welcome you to come on by. We are expecting a brand new batch of Peace Nook Ts (new colors, new design on the back) to arrive next week, and we will, once again, sell these at our cost.
 
VOLUNTEERING:  We will switch to our summer volunteer schedule in mid-May, when school lets out at MU, but don't wait until then, if you are interested in volunteering. We have a number of shifts open now, so stop by or give us a call at 573-875-0539 if you're interested in lending a hand here. All we ask is for two hours a week on a regularly scheduled basis. We provide training, support, much appreciation and a modest discount on purchases.
 
BEST SELLERS & STAFF PICKS:  You can access the list of 40 books we've put on 20%-off discount at: http://blog.midmopeaceworks.org/p/peace-nook.html  Just scroll down to see the list.
 
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OTHER EVENTS:
 
TRIFECTA RESISTA, FRIDAY-SUNDAY, APRIL 13-15:  Our friends in the Kansas City peace community are organizing a series of events this coming weekend that will focus on resistance to war and militarism. This includes a non-violence training this Friday evening, resistance actions at Ft. Leavenworth, where Bradley Manning has been imprisoned and at the site of the new KC nuclear weapons parts plant, both on Saturday, as well as an action at Whiteman AFB, site of drone operations, on Sunday. More info on this series of actions at http://www.peaceworkskc.org/kcplant.html#trifecta  There are activists from Columbia planning on attending and the Mid-Missouri Peace Coalition has endorsed this event. To coordinate transportation with local activists, please contact Jeff Stack at 573-449-4585 or write to jstack@formissouri.org.
 
CENTRO LATINO VEGGIE MONTH MOVIES & DINNERS:  Our friends at Centro Latino will be hosting an excellent series of films at the new Comedor Popular on Friday and Saturday evenings, starting this Friday. Each film, all of which deal in one way or another with food and health, will be complemented by a vegan dinner prepared in the Comedor using local &/or organic ingredients. This is a fundraiser for Centro Latino and there is a suggested donation of $10. More details and an annotated list of films at:   http://centrolatino.missouri.org/english/services.html also check http://www.facebook.com/pages/Centro-Latino/111643288876899 to keep up with Centro Latino happenings.
STOP TRAFFIC CONFERENCE, SATURDAY, APRIL 14:  MU Stop Traffic is Mizzou’s student-led anti-human trafficking organization. On Saturday, April 14 they are hosting the 2012 Stop Traffic Now Conference, which will feature speakers and panelists covering a variety of subjects related to modern-day slavery. The conference will run from 8:30 a.m. until 8 p.m., with a detailed schedule posted at http://mustoptraffic.weebly.com/our-events.html
 
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Thanks for your interest. We hope to see you at at least some of these events.
 
All the best,
Your friends at Peaceworks
 
 
 
Mid-Missouri Peaceworks
804-C E. Broadway
Columbia, MO 65201
573-875-0539
 
Support our work. Donate securely at:
 
"We are all hurling through space on a rock and we're all going to die. You would think we would be holding hands and singing."
-John Bradshaw
  
 
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