Tompkins County Against War & Occupation

Rally to Demand an Economy That Works for Everyone

Main Street, Not Wall Street!

What: A Rally on The Commons in Ithaca to Demand an Economy That Works for Everyone

When: Wednesday, October 1, 2008 @ 5:30 p.m.

Where: Bernie Milton Pavilion (Center Pavilion, on edge of Bank Alley at corner of E. State and Tioga Sts. in Ithaca)

Who: Tompkins County Workers’ Center

The Tompkins County Workers Center today condemns the government’s response to the financial crisis that is enveloping the United States and beyond.

Failed policies have created the worst crisis in our economy and financial markets since the Great Depression. A bail-out for Wall Street is not enough. We demand an end to the failed policies of deregulation, taxation that benefits only the rich, trickle down economics that never trickles down and unrestrained corporate greed. We insist on new policies and a new politics and a new economy that works for everyone, not just the few

Where is the bail out for the 30 million working families in the United States, including many right here in Tompkins County and central New York, who are paid less than a living wage and consequently work all day and all week and find at the end of the week that their pay cannot support their families. Isn’t that a crisis?

Where is the bail out for 1 billion people throughout the world, including many right here in Tompkins County and central New York, who go to bed hungry each night? Isn’t that a crisis?

Where is the bail out for our environment, on the brink of ecological disaster? Isn’t that a crisis?

Where is the bail out for the millions of children who are failed by our under-funded schools and young people failed by a society that puts a college education out of financial reach? Isn’t that a crisis?

Where is the bailout for the millions and millions of American workers denied basic rights on the job and even any effective right to form unions? Isn’t that a crisis?

Where is the bail out for millions of struggling homeowners and tenants faced with the threat of foreclosure or ever escalating rents that they cannot afford. Isn’t that a crisis?

Where is the bail out for the 47 million uninsured Americans without healthcare and the many millions of others facing unaffordable increases in costs for basic healthcare. Isn’t that a crisis?

Where is the bail out for those communities impacted by plant closings that throw thousands out of work. Isn’t that a crisis?

Why is it only a crisis in our country when it involves Wall Street banks, private equity firms, investment houses and the wealthy that control their shares? And why does Wall Street’s crisis suddenly become Main Street’s problem?

The American people are willing to share the burden, but we should not be expected to pay for any effort to bail the banks out of this financial crisis, without also having in place the policies and programs and funding to deal with our own daily crises.

To learn about what one of the national partners of the Workers’ Center (the Poverty Initiative) is saying about the crisis, particularly focused on the housing crisis, click here.