To Family, Friends, Neighbors, Community, a Better 2021
December 31, 2020 Leave a comment
AGENDA FOR POVERTY ALLEVIATION: 14 Policy Priorities
December 21, 2020 Leave a comment
The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival policy agenda and analysis brought to public a recognition of the depth of poverty, low wealth and income status of a very large growing share of the US population. It is estimate that there are 140 million poor and low wealth people in the US and the COVID-19 pandemic increased this number by 8 million people.
The poor population has been publicly hidden from view in recent years, whereby, the national GOP political agenda has strongly favored the ultra-wealthy, large corporations with a huge tax reduction program that cost the government $1.7 trillion. Also, the owners of enterprises and stocks that are benefiting from the pandemic have greatly increased their share of the wealth.
The 14 policy priorities elaborated as a moral and economic agenda for the first 100 days of the Biden Administration are as follows:
- Enact comprehensive, free and just COVID-19 relief
- Guarantee quality health care for all, regardless of any pre-existing conditions
- Raise the minimum wage to $15/hour immediately
- Update the poverty measure
- Enact a federal job program..
- Protect and expand voting rights and civil rights
- Guarantee safe, quality and equitable public education, with support for protection against re-segregation
- Comprehensive and just immigration reform
- Ensure all of the rights of indigenous peoples
- Enact fair taxes
- Use the power of executive orders
- Redirect the bloated Pentagon budge towards those priorities as matters of national security
- Work with the Power People’s Campaign to establish a permanent Presidential Council to advocate for this bold agenda
This agenda reminds of the task ahead in working against the huge inequities that have arisen the US over the last 50 years, and which have become much worse in the last 20 years.
Weak Democracy in the City of Coral Gables?
December 16, 2020 Leave a comment
DEMOCRACY refers to a political system in which legislative and chief executive decision-makers are elected by majority or plurality rule by eligible voters, with a presumption that the franchise approaches universal adult suffrage among legal citizens and that mechanisms are in place to protect ideological, religious, ethnic, and other demographic minorities.
Source: American Academy of Arts and Sciences. OUR COMMON PURPOSE: Reinventing American Democracy for the 21st Century. Commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship. 2020. p. 1.
The big question is that if only 20 to 25 percent of the eligible registered voters actually vote in municipal elections, whether the city is a weak democracy. I would say that the answer is weak democracy. However, the City of Coral Gables is not that unusual in having such a low participation in municipal elections.
I would add that strong democratic systems should be conceived as encouraging voter participation. The City of Coral Gables discourages voter participation by having voting outside of routine national and state elections in November.
The impacts of low voter participation can be thought of as voter suppression via the charter of the city, which fixes the election dates at an inconvenient date to the electorate. There is good evidence that if elections are moved to November coinciding with national and state elections, then voter participation expands to twice the current participation.
The Commission considered charter revisions that did not include a change of election date to November to coincide with national elections. This disrespects citizens who are conceived as incapable to select the right candidates for the City Commission.
The City of South Miami should be respected as it submitted the election date change and the change in date was approved overwhelming by the voters.
Mr. Mayor: Where are the Impact Studies?
December 14, 2020 Leave a comment
Gables Mayor Raul Valdes-Fauli actually tried to cut residents and parents off at the October meeting because “the lobbyists are here” to talk about legislative priorities. He said the Village of Merrick Park had no negative effect on Coral Gables High and this would be the same.
Wawa Whaaaat? Coral Gables to get a gas station across elementary school – Political Cortadito
Coral Gables Watch 