This space is dedicated to the proposition that we need to know the history of the struggles on the left and of earlier progressive movements here and world-wide. If we can learn from the mistakes made in the past (as well as what went right) we can move forward in the future to create a more just and equitable society. We will be reviewing books, CDs, and movies we believe everyone needs to read, hear and look at as well as making commentary from time to time. Greg Green, site manager
Trump was elected nearly a year ago. In that time he has attacked immigrants, women, people of color, the environment, our health care, workers, and the LGBTQIA community.
Cities like Minneapolis can - and must - resist Trump's corporate-backed tax plan.
Five billionaires now own as much wealth as the bottom half of the world’s population, and massive corporations hoard trillions in offshore tax-havens: enough to pay off everyone’s student debt with money to spare.
Trump’s disastrous new tax plan would make already historic levels of economic inequality even worse. Massive corporations and the super rich will profit more than ever before, while small businesses and working families will be squeezed further. Trump’s tax cuts to the super rich will mean deeper cuts to mass transit, housing, medical and social programs, which can undermine even the best conceived local policies.
The Twin Cities are home to 17 Fortune 500 corporations, the highest concentration in the country per capita, while a quarter of the city live below the poverty line. The political establishment says taxing the rich can’t be done, but they said the same thing about the $15 an hour minimum wage too before we built a movement and won. Rather than accepting the status quo agenda of corporate-friendly politicians, we need to tax the rich to fund the crucial services that working people need.
Minneapolis should follow cities like San Francisco and Seattle have and pass a “Millionaire’s Tax” on the super rich to fund mass transit, education, affordable housing and social services. In San Francisco, it raises enough to make community college tuition free for residents of the city! Under existing law, Minneapolis has the power to tax big developers and corporations through developer impact fees, a corporate “head tax,” an increased tax on commercial parking lot owners, and “excise taxes” on banks, big box retailers, and franchise businesses.
A corporate-funded PAC deceptively called “Minneapolis Works!” has sent three mailers attacking Ginger's campaign. Beyond calling ideas like taxing the super rich and corporations “dangerous” and “nuts,” they dishonestly claimed that Ginger will raise taxes on working people! We should be clear: Ginger opposes increasing taxes on working families or having them foot the bill for corporate handouts like US Bank Stadium. Instead of raising property taxes on working class families, as is proposed in this year’s budget, we should be increasing taxes on people who own mansions, big developers and corporation.
Minneapolis can’t afford four more years of politics as usual in City Hall. We need proven fighters for working people who are prepared not just to work in City Hall, but to fight for the interests of working families at all levels of government. With Trump in the White House, this is even more necessary. As Executive Director of 15 Now Minnesota, Ginger helped build the coalition that defeated the threat of state level pre-emption while fighting for the strongest possible ordinance for $15/hr in City Hall at the same time.
That movement led the region in making Minneapolis the first city to pass $15/hr in the Midwest. Now let's make Minneapolis a beacon of resistance to Trump and his billionaire-backed agenda.
Election day is this Tuesday! We need your help to send Ginger Jentzen, a proven fighter for working people, to City Hall? Can you donate $50 today?
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