The Struggle is Real – Changing the Conversation in Montana

When the Montana Department of Corrections issued its 2013 Biennial Report , the department’s own numbers finally substantiated exactly what the community has known all along: Montana is disproportionately locking away Natives.photo (9)

One out of every five men in prison in Montana is Native American – far above the rate that Natives are represented in the state’s general population. About 36 percent of all women incarcerated in Montana are Native.

Prisons are rooted in a long history of racism and oppression in this country.

The faces of this problem are not only Black and Latino, but also Native. It’s not exclusively an urban problem, restricted to the ghettos of Chicago and New York. Rural America is also locking up people of color in disproportionate numbers.
Continue reading “The Struggle is Real – Changing the Conversation in Montana”

Get Real on Job Growth and Expand Medicaid

 A new op-ed in the Bangor Daily News, written by Maine People’s Alliance executive director Jesse Graham and Alliance for a Just Society executive director LeeAnn Hall, lays out how the Maine legislature could build more and better jobs simply by accepting federal funds for Medicaid expansion.

By Jesse Graham and LeeAnn Hall
Special to the Bangor Daily News

State lawmakers are approaching a new moment of reckoning on the decision to accept (or reject) federal funding to expand health coverage to 70,000 currently uninsured Mainers.On one side, there’s a growing body of economic evidence supporting the expansion and thousands of personal stories about the brutal effects of a lack of health coverage. On the other side, there’s Gov. Paul LePage.

While the governor’s veto succeeded in blocking this expansion last year, new reports of Republican legislators’ willingness to strike a deal suggest the governor’s campaign against expanding health coverage is looking more like a losing crusade this time around. The growing momentum toward a deal is good news not only for uninsured Mainers but also for the state economy.
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Expanding Health Coverage in Maine with Federal Funds Will Boost the Economy

Expanding health coverage with federal funds will create economy-boosting jobs in states that most need them, according to a new report by the Alliance for a Just Society. The report comes as state legislators debate adopting the Medicaid expansion authorized by the Affordable Care Act.

“This report shows that Medicaid expansion will not only expand health coverage to more residents and create jobs, but also the jobs we’ll create through Medicaid expansion are living wage jobs that support families and boost the state’s economy,” said LeeAnn Hall, executive director of the Alliance for a Just Society. “For lawmakers who care about boosting the economy and creating good jobs, this report shows Medicaid expansion should be common sense.”

Read the full report here.

Stronger Together: Rural Communities Ready for Immigration Reform

Last fall, in the final push to convince legislators to pass immigration reform – voices that had so far been quiet, spoke up. They were dairymen, potato growers, and ranchers and business owners. They are the voices of rural America.Fernando immigration photo

Small towns and rural communities are the heart and soul of our country. They are the places where many of us grew up; the places where we formed our values and learned about the importance of family and relationships.

Families are at the heart of the push to fix our broken immigration system, this is something rural communities understand well.Continue reading “Stronger Together: Rural Communities Ready for Immigration Reform”

State of the Union Has the Right Themes, Action Must Follow

sotu photo
President Barack Obama delivers the State of the Union address in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 28. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

President Barack Obama delivered his fifth State of the Union address Tuesday night: low-key compared to other addresses, determined and occasionally defiant.

He touched on many of the priorities being worked on by the Alliance for a Just Society this year, including mentioning that nine million Americans have signed up for private health insurance or Medicaid coverage. He didn’t mention that 23 states have not accepted Medicaid expansion for their most vulnerable residents.

The President called for immigration reform to be passed, a solution for college graduates trapped by student loan debt, he pushed for a federal minimum wage increase to $10.10 an hour.

“Americans overwhelmingly agree that no one who works full time should ever have to raise a family in poverty,” he said.
Private businesses shouldn’t wait for a government mandate, but instead follow the lead of giant Costco and much smaller Punch Pizza and give employees a raise.Continue reading “State of the Union Has the Right Themes, Action Must Follow”

Families and Our Future Sinking in a Sea of Student Debt

This is the first in a three-part series by the Alliance for a Just Society, looking at the high cost of student debt for our country and for our future.students campus photo

Young college graduates are putting their futures on hold as they struggle under the burden of high student debt – and a weak economic recovery that has failed to provide good jobs for them. Young adults in their 20s and 30s are delaying buying houses, cars, furniture or starting families. The implications for every family, and our nation, are huge.

Student loan debt has passed $1.2 trillion, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Such widespread indebtedness has many causes and the ramifications are pervasive – including a decline in purchasing power.
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Butte Jury Holds Bankers Accountable With $52 Million Verdict

By Sheena Rice
Montana Organizing Project

It’s no longer shocking to read news articles about the scandalous behavior of big banks. Readers roll their eyes when they see JPMorgan’s CEO being awarded a total pay of $20 million the same year the bank made repeated headlines for being fined millions of dollars and incurring losses of billions of dollars. Stories like these are so common it’s almost boring.MOP Logo JPEG

But a jury in Butte, Mont. – population 34,000 – recently decided they weren’t going to tolerate a second set of rules just for banks. They delivered a $52 million verdict against Comerica, another national bank that was also bailed out by the government, and then refused to help a borrower.

The borrower, an office supply company, was essentially destroyed when Comerica reneged on a written forbearance agreement. The company decided to fight, and filed the lawsuit.
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Alliance On Stage With Pelosi and Raise the Wage

Alliance for a Just Society Lobbyist Bill Daley (far right) attended a Washington D.C. press conference in support of raising the minimum wage. Pictured in the front row are Democratic Whip Rep. Steny Hoyer, Congressman George Miller, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, and Secretary of Labor Tom Perez.
Alliance for a Just Society Lobbyist Bill Daley (far right) attended a Washington D.C. press conference in support of raising the minimum wage. Pictured in the front row are Democratic Whip Rep. Steny Hoyer, Congressman George Miller, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, and Secretary of Labor Tom Perez.

The work of Alliance for a Just Society was very much in evidence earlier this month when House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Labor Secretary Tom Perez held a press conference calling for passage of legislation to raise the federal minimum wage.

The legislation, endorsed by the Alliance, would bring the hourly minimum wage up to $10.10 per hour over three years, then index future wage increases to inflation.  Federal minimum wage is now $7.25 per house.

Bill Daley, the Washington D.C. lobbyist for Alliance for a Just Society and Main Street Alliance, advocated for the increase, sharing the Alliances latest job and wage gap study: America’s Changing Economy which notes that minimum wage is a “barely surviving” wage and an actual living wage in many parts of country is closer to $16 an hour.

 

Economic Equality for All, the Unfinished Dream

image001The young minister paused and looked out at the crowd of thousands, then looked back at his notes stacked neatly before him on the podium. He was searching for just the right words – words that would speak to the indignity of poverty and racial inequality; words that would inspire hope in an hour of despair.

He raised his head, focusing his gaze forward. After a long moment of silence, out from the side of the stage rises the bolstering voice of Mahalia Jackson: “Tell them about the dream, Martin!” she urges.Continue reading “Economic Equality for All, the Unfinished Dream”